Ooooof

By the time this Sunday is done, I’ll be sitting at 52+ hours worked, with 26 of those hours fought tooth and nail between Friday and Sunday morning while Mother Nature decided to remind us who’s boss. This weather is brutal. Cold that cuts to the bone. Darkness that settles deep. The kind of conditions that test your grit and your heart.

And I showed up anyway.

Not because I had to.

Not because it was comfortable.

But because I believe in leading from the front. Because a good manager doesn’t hide when things get hard;  she plants her feet, squares her shoulders, and says “I’ve got this.” I will never ask my people to face something I won’t face myself.

But I also know the truth that sits heavy on my heart.

While I’m out there, my husband and my boys are carrying worry I wish I could take from them. Worry about my health. Worry about power outages. Worry about me standing alone in a dark store, out in the middle of nowhere, overnight, one woman holding the line while the world sleeps. I know every hour I work is another hour they hold their breath.

And yet… I do it because of them.

Every ache in my body is love.

Every exhausted step is devotion.

Every long night is proof that I will endure anything to give my family stability, safety, and pride.

This is what loving fiercely looks like.

This is what sacrifice sounds like.

This is what a mother does.

So rest easy, my sweet boys. I'm okay. I’m coming home in the morning. And if the power’s still on, I’ll be flipping pancakes and scrambling eggs like nothing in the world could stop me. 

Because storms don’t win here

 Love does. 🥞🍳💙💙💙