For those who came before me

Just as I married myself when I was ten years old, I had a ceremony of sorts. A baptism. A renewal. I bathed myself in the water and thought of all those amazing women who came before me. Suddenly it seemed as if my struggles were the same struggles and fears and hopes and dreams of my ancesters before me. They endured. And I can endure. I am strong enough. And moreover, I have a duty to survive, but not only this, to thrive. To honor those who have come before me.