The night I realized I wasn’t broken

Just grieving

That night, after the last toy was put away and the final glass rinsed, I sat in the quiet. The kind of quiet that hums through your bones after a long day. No collapse, no panic. Just stillness. It was new to me.

I lay beside my son (Tiago) in our shared bed, a twin-sized reminder of how hard it is to separate when housing makes it nearly impossible. Portugal hasn’t made rebuilding easy (emotionally or logistically) but it sure has brought light to my (new) life, for that obrigada Portugal. There we were. He fell asleep fast. And I cried (big time).

Not from sadness exactly, but from something shifting deep inside. Most nights, it felt like he was carrying my weight. That wasn’t fair nor sustainable. But I kept going. I thought I was failing. What I was really doing… was grieving.

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But She Rebuilds didn’t begin that night. It started long before, when I was pregnant and slowly realized the world expected me to give everything and without noticing I complied. It started the moment I knew that what I needed as a woman, a mother, a migrant, a human wasn’t being spoken aloud. No one had written it for me. So it stayed in my head. In my journals. In my body.

Over time, people showed up and held me gently, quietly even when I didn’t believe I could keep going. They didn’t fix it. They just stayed close enough to remind me: You can rebuild. Maybe not today. But soon. And little by little, I started to believe it too.

She Rebuilds is not a story of strength. It’s a story of surrender.
To truth.
To timing.
To the ones who showed up.
To the woman I was becoming even when I couldn’t see her yet.

And I know I’m not the only one. 58% of the women in our first survey said they feel guilty asking for help, even when they need it most. Because they’re mothering others. Because they’re trying to fix what the world keeps breaking. Because somewhere along the way, they were taught not to ask.

Women who are mothering in silence, fixing everything for everyone, and still holding their breath.
Women like you and me, tired of feeling alone inside their own head.

Compassion is something we grow together and She Rebuilds is a place where we gather to do just that.
🌱Week by week.
🌱Word by word.

If someone came up to you mind after reading and you think they are struggling please take two minutes and text or call to check in, just to say hi or forward this post. It will make a difference.

So, tell me, what are you carrying today?

With love,

Fer.💛