This week, I'm sitting with two people who had the ground pulled out from under them early, Robin as a kid and Ryan as a young husband, and who somehow built lives full of love anyway.
Both conversations really made me think about how long we try to carry the heaviest things on our own, and what finally changes when we stop.
Robin and Ryan spent years sure they were supposed to hold all of it alone. Robin was parenting herself and her little sister before she was old enough to be parented. Ryan hid so much for so long that he lost whole years and never told a soul. What stays with me is that neither of them got better by getting stronger at carrying it. They got better the moment they let someone actually see it. I did the carry-it-alone thing for a long time too, so this one sat with me a while.
"I think love is the counterpoint to grief."
If something in that landed, here's where to go:
ROBIN ROSENBLUTH
what it takes to build a life overflowing with love after the people who were supposed to catch you didn't
RYAN ROBERTS
losing his wife the same season life finally felt settled, and the long, honest road back to himself
Until next time, Matt
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