It’s amazing on this journey who you meet and end up having deep friendships with. I love being with those who are real about their struggles. We all have those days when we just feel so weak we fall, we are immersed in our tears, we can’t help but be angry……and of course all these feelings are ok to feel!

Yet I also so admire those I know who despite their losses, their hurts, their battles, they still smile. I don’t mean a fake smile that covers over the pain and superficially says ‘I’m ok’ as politeness to a stranger who asks ‘how are you?’.

I am talking about a smile that comes from deep inside, from chasing that hope,  from the not giving up.

The smile that arises from the tiny joy you find in a wonderful memory though there is sadness of a loss.

It’s the inner strength of a beautiful strong woman who is not defeated and smiles as she decides she will love herself in the atrocity.

A smile that starts to mend her broken heart as it’s stitched back together with determination and fearlessness even with uncertainty.

She manages a smile through the tears as a comfort to another who shares her journey and her smile says ‘I understand and I’m here with you.’