Before you read my story, I want to tell you why I’m writing it now. I am not writing this from the middle of the storm. I am writing this from what came after. I am a mother. I am a woman who nearly died. I am a woman who put her career aside, along with some of her illusions and parts of her identity, to create a family and who is now slowly beginning to rebuild herself. During the summer of 2025, I didn’t know if I would make it — physically or mentally. I went through mor