The Fight

The Fight

By Valerie Strawmier

(Written 10/28/18)

It's the storm, it's the light

It's the flicker of life,

So bright that it burns your eyes,

It's the action, the passion,

When you're making things happen,

The progress you make,

While the wind is lashing,

It's the beat of your feet,

On a sloshy, wet street,

The sound as you run in the dark,

While others sleep,

It's the fight, it's the might,

It's the burn of the light,

That drives you forward

From the inside

It's the win,

the grin,

The will to live,

the pain without sin

It's honest, it's life,

It's a storm, it's a fight,

It's the victory lap,

You see in sight

Now go to sleep, Champ,

You've won today

But tomorrow brings,

Another dragon to slay

You're ready,

You've won

You're not a loser,

Now move forward and take back your future

My Open Letter to the Families in Florida:

Time stops.
Your breathing stops.
If it wasn't for the view of people moving around you, you'd be certain the earth stopped too.
...

They were here.
You were talking to them.
You hugged them and made plans for later.
And now...they're not.

The sound of someone leaving your life so unexpectedly is absolute silence.
Silence from the people trying to comfort you while you can't stop screaming in your head.
They assure you it just takes time.

Time you don't want.
Time to think...about how everything is just wrong now, without the one who is gone.
Time to...just be.

It does happen, in a small, unexpected moment.
When you're holding something of theirs and the flicker of a happy memory tugs the corners of your mouth upward.
The way they laughed.
A line from their favorite movie they quoted all the time.
How excited they were to receive a particular gift.

A picture.
A smile.
A hug in a frame.
Joy and love from a much better day.

Someone tells a story about their hopes and dreams.
Reminds you of what direction they were heading.
How they loved and supported you too.
And you don't want to let them down.

You have more purpose now.
You need to do it for them.
Reach your goals and dreams since they can't.
Let them live on through you.

Time will help.
Love will help.
Remembering the joy they brought to the world and passing it on.
It will help.

We mourn with you.
We love with you.
We pray with you.
And most of all, we live with you knowing times will be hard, but they will soften.

With All Our Hearts,
The Rest of America