I can still hear my Godmother’s voice, may her soul rest in peace, telling me, my cousin, and sister one evening:

Girls,

It’s important to understand that you can love someone and still not belong in their life.

And forgiveness, well, forgiveness doesn’t mean you let them back in, it just means you stop letting them live rent-free in your head.

It hasn’t been easy to follow her advice.

When you love someone, it’s only natural to want to be in their life, no matter how toxic that relationship can be. But I learned and grew and got better at it.

The forgiveness part is also challenging. It’s not letting them back in; that’s the problem, but stopping them from living rent-free in my brain; that’s the battle I struggle with.

I miss my Godmother every day, and remembering her passing down snippets of wisdom to us to help us along our paths warms my heart. I love her to infinity and a bit more.