“From Loss to Light: Stand With This Family”

“Still She Rises” Every morning before the sun even thought about rising, Jessica was already awake. The house was quiet—too quiet now. She used to hear her mother humming in the kitchen, warming bottles or packing lunches, always moving with a gentle rhythm that made the world feel safe. But that melody was gone, replaced by a silence that pressed against her chest. Still, Jessica got up. She always did. Her kids depended on her, and she refused to let grief steal the little stability they had left. She packed lunches, tied shoelaces, wiped sleepy eyes, and whispered the same words every morning: “We’re going to be okay.” She wasn’t sure she believed it yet, but she said it anyway, hoping the universe might hear her trying. Work was long and exhausting. She took extra shifts, stayed late, and pushed through the ache in her heart. Some days she felt like she was moving underwater—slow, heavy, tired in a way sleep couldn’t fix. But she kept going because she had no choice. Her children needed her strength, even when she felt she had none left. Then came the day she never saw coming. A notice on the door. A deadline she couldn’t meet. A home slipping through her fingers just when she needed it most. Losing her mother had shattered her heart; losing her home threatened to break her spirit. That night, after the kids fell asleep in the small borrowed room they were staying in, Jessica sat alone and let herself cry—really cry—for the first time in months. She cried for her mother, for her children, for the life she was trying so desperately to hold together. But when the tears finally slowed, something surprising remained: a spark. Small, but real. She remembered her mother’s voice, soft but steady: “You’re stronger than you think, baby. You always have been.” Jessica wiped her face, took a deep breath, and made a promise to herself. She would rebuild. She would find a way. She would create a new home, a new beginning, a new chapter for her children. Because even in the darkest moments, she still rose. And she wasn’t done rising yet.