The Saoirse Chronicles-Healing @ 21 Plus-Page 1

At 55—or, as her great-aunts would say, 21+—Saoirse struggled with life's emotions every single day. She greeted each morning with hope, determined not to be weighed down by the past. Most days, the burden was manageable. Or perhaps she had simply mastered the art of compartmentalizing—keeping herself busy, distracted, and constantly moving until exhaustion was victorious. Her carefully constructed house of cards stood in delicate balance, until an unpredictable trigger brought everything crashing down—ass over elbow.

A long time ago she decided to stop trying to convince people how deeply she had been hurt because she realized no one would ever fully understand. Those wounds were hers alone to carry, and somehow, she always found the strength to keep moving forward.  Every time the house of cards collapsed, she rebuilt it.

Again.

And again.

Reinventing.

With every betrayal, every act of disrespect, manipulation,  childhood trauma, each time she was caught in the crossfire or blamed for something she didn't do—and, more often than not, it was family—she learned to eliminate what no longer served her, evaluate what remained, and evolve into someone stronger.

Today began like every other.

Rise. Shine. Move forward with purpose.

Then her eyes landed on the calendar.

Father's Day.

In the blink of an eye, the carefully balanced house of cards began to tremble and fall.