Why The Porch Swing?
I'm just an ordinary girl with an extraordinary story. And, it would be a disservice to you, my friend, without telling you about, The Porch Swing. So, here it goes.
The moment the Beloved Champion and I purchased our home, I had my eyes on the perfect spot for a porch swing. The porch swing dream was a romantic idea of long springtime mornings and hot summer afternoons just swaying back and forth. It'd be a place where we would greet the morning sunrises, marvel at the stars, share stories, and hear her childhood laughter as she played. Life got ahold of our seasons, and the years blended together. We just never got around to the dream of getting that porch swing.
That was until May 2017, the porch swing dream came true.
On February 14th, 2017, the Beloved Champion began hospice care after a 5-year health journey with bone cancer. Little did we know that the simplicity of our tippy-toes swaying back and forth on the porch swing would become the place where the tenderness of our hearts would land. We spent much time on the porch swing that summer of 2017. It was on a June morning, this very ordinary girl holding a cup of coffee, blinking through salty tears, whispered the words, "this is where you'll find me." The Beloved Champion smiled and said, catching the salty tears in his thumbprint, "I know, look for the butterflies, and I will meet you here on the porch swing."
Fast forward to a summer afternoon in 2018. I was knee-deep in grief and loss and in the search for meaning. After weaving my way in and out of a cycle of denial, anger, and depression, the porch swing, was calling me to "come and stay awhile." The dust of my heart sat in my hands as I began to fathom this heartbreak and carve out space in my life to allow myself to feel and heal. I was obtaining official transcripts from my undergraduate program to pursue the application process for graduate school. And, it was there on the porch swing it appeared, the very words of his legacy, written across the top starring back at me of the university website, "BE A CHAMPION." As though that wasn't enough, a monarch butterfly fluttered its wings and graced me with its presence. And that, that was the moment I knew, this is what I am meant to do!
My motivation is the passion in my heart for people. I believe in people. I believe in humanity and second chances and redemption. And I think it is okay to have questions. It is the birthplace of curiosity and creativity. Be curious and creative. Keep asking all the questions. I believe that we may not always have answers to all the questions. However, with time, healing, introspection, intentionality, and dedication to your journey, the answers will be revealed when the heart is ready and able. Living this life well is attainable, and the fire burning in my heart to lean into the process of becoming is beautiful. I believe in the heart work, and that heartbreak calls for peeling away all the layers. That is brave. That is courage. That is the place of waiting. And, it is where the magic happens. Giving permission to this place of waiting is necessary. Sometimes it is the space where humanity steps in and calls for a living flesh example that says something along the line of;
" Welcome, my friend. Please, come as you are. There is room for you here. Here on The Porch Swing."
