Empty chair

At a young age my mother got sick. Overnight, I went from being a carefree student to working double shifts to cover her medicine and rent. By day I stacked boxes in a warehouse, by night I cleaned offices until sunrise. I barely slept, but I couldn’t stop she depended on me.

There were nights when my body screamed for rest, when I sat on the bathroom floor of an empty office building and cried. I wondered if anyone even saw me, or if I was just invisible. But every time I walked through the door in the morning and saw my mother smile, it gave me enough strength to keep going.

Two years later, she got better. And so did I. I learned that strength isn’t about never breaking. It’s about breaking, and still choosing to continue. Today, whenever life feels heavy, I remind myself: If I could survive those nights, I can handle anything that comes next.

Naomi Goedhart