The Promise of Resilience

It had been 20+ years since I’d been to the house.

Not much had changed.

The exterior paint was a bit more faded and chipped.
The cracks in the sidewalk were deeper.

The drive had started out early, filled with stress and anxiety.
Before facing my family, I needed a moment.

I stepped out of the car and took a walk around the house.
I came around the front to go to the side.
My gaze fell on a sight that brought tears to my eyes.

Winter had laid the branches bare, leaving them thin, exposed.
The skeletal figure was both frail and strong.
It looked like the twigs could be snapped with ease,
But they could also sway and bend with the breeze.

The branches weren’t completely barren or bland.
On most of the ends grew a white and pink flower.
They stood in contrast to the brown sticks that made up the frame.
They spoke of hope and the ability to overcome.

I saw myself in that bush.
How the past year and a half had broken me down, made me a shell of my former self,
Left me exposed, vulnerable, a thin frame of what I had been before.

Despite the exposure and attempt to weaken, there was still strength.
The ability to bend in the wind and weather the toughest of storms.

Life had stripped me down, cut me to the core.
But with the devastation, there is the beauty of growth.
The promise of resilience.


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