Month: January 2023

we’re growing

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and growth is essential …
I can talk to my father about
my mental health limitations,
and he breathes through my
explanations, urging himself
to understand.

four years ago, when I told him
I was bisexual, my father knew–
he didn’t flinch, didn’t judge,
and most importantly did not
condemn me.
He simply said, “I’d always known,
I just never knew how to
approach it. What hurts me,
though, is you felt that you
couldn’t tell me.”

and all my life, I’d seen sinners
and saints sinning the same,
and one plucked as a favorite
over the other, so I opened the
closet, and sat safely there …
for 30 years.

and now, gracefully shining
in my 40s, I can say, “Daddy,
remember when?” as I talk about
my closeted days, and he’ll say,
“Yes, baby, I do. And we’re past
that. And we’re growing.”

and we are.
we really are.

21 Years Later — We Still Support Each Other

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I’m blessed to have her. I hope she’s blessed to have me, too.

Photo by alex starnes on Unsplash

If you know what it feels like to be walking on what you think is your last leg — limping on worn-out shoes, tortured feet, and trying to carry the weight of your body with the world resting on your shoulders and a special someone is right there for support . . . then, you are blessed. You have been given a gift God handpicked for you, and you should cherish it.

I have someone in my life who has been a force — strength when I have waded through rough waters with little breath to give to anyone else, and she still hangs in here with me.

She has accomplished so much. I am motivated by her ambition. Her managerial skills impress me. Her presence when she enters a room demands the attention of everyone around her, and it is a sight to witness.

I feel nothing but happiness when she is around. We can laugh for hours at the silliest thing or the corniest movie. The older we get, these things do not change.

When you can find peace in the presence of someone else that also lends peace to you to share with someone else, that is the beauty of life that knows no bounds.

Just like any two best friends, we have had our trials. Tribulations came and attempted to conquer. However, we stood firm on their rocky paths. The shakier they seemed to get, the mightier we became. Nothing could shift our spirits and move us away from who we were meant to be.

When you have seen someone at their worst and what you gain from being a witness is strength and revelation, then you hold on to that person. You hold on to their love. You tie yourself to the very thought of their existence and you thank God for thinking about you in your season of need.

A lot of us will never know the beauty of this love — this kind of friendship. Many of us will not allow ourselves the vulnerability we will need to strip down and be our naked true selves to someone else in order to gain this type of understanding — this bond.

I am happy to know I have moved through embracing the hard parts of me and willing them to become soft. Walking through this time of my life opened up doors for me and my best friend. It strengthened our communication skills and made us tap into growth factors, too.

21 years later and we are stronger than we have ever been. Together as one, we have skipped down dusty roads meant to break our bones. And we are continuing on a journey that seems to be a settled place of welcome with an overwhelming dose of calm.

I do not want to know a world without her in it — without her standing by my side and lifting me up when the gloominess of life is pulling chunks out of my heart.

Whenever we see each other, we pull one another into a hug that says, “Hey, girl. Just stay right here for this moment in this embrace for a while longer. Don’t let go — not yet.” And we rock and we sway and we step back and look at each other in awe.

We’re still here — still making each other’s days — still sharing laughs and joy; still being who we are unashamed and with no excuses.

Stronger together, come what may.

©2023 Tremaine L. Loadholt

This piece is in response to the CRY “Stronger Together” writing prompt.

Originally published in CRY Magazine via Medium.

Writers: A Challenge

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I Am Sharing This Here As Well . . .

Writers: A Challenge

50-word Story: Animate your life

Photo by Donald Wu on Unsplash

Hello, beautiful people! Welcome to the second challenge since A Cornered Gurl’s relaunch. What do I have brewing in my mind for you now? Something I truly hope you can get into. We will tackle the task of animating your life or telling me about your life as it is linked to or related to your favorite animated movie, cartoon, claymation, etc. You get the drift.

And how will we do this? We will do so using the 50-word story (or a minisaga).

50-word story (minisaga)

A minisaga, mini saga or mini-saga is a short story based on a long story. It should contain exactly 50 words, plus a title of up to 15 characters. However, the title requirement is not always enforced and sometimes eliminated altogether. Minisagas are alternately known as microstories, ultra-shorts stories, or fifty-word stories.

— Wikipedia

The challenge: Please tell me about your life, but do so by comparing it or linking it to your favorite animated movie, cartoon, claymation, etc. Are The Flintstones your favorite go-to cartoon? How so? How is it directly related to your life? Dexter’s Laboratory is closely related to who you are and how your life operates — tell us how. The Incredibles directly define you and your family in some sort of way . . . really? Give us the details, but guess what — do so using exactly 50 words.

An example:

I was blessed with a quick wit, nearsightedness, and too much useless information packed into my head. I had an oddball gang of friends who didn’t mind carrying on with me. Sarcasm was my bosom buddy and I wasn’t popular, but I was well-known. Daria should have been my name.

Let’s get our thinking caps on, beautiful people!

•Request to be added as a writer by emailing me at acorneredgurl[AT]gmail[DOT]com with “Please Add Me” as the subject line and please include the link to your Medium profile. Don’t want to be a writer in A Cornered Gurl? Simply comment with your response in this challenge post, or create your own post to your profile or in another publication, however, please use the tags, “Challenge” and “Pandemic.”

The challenge will run from Sunday, January 22, 2023, until 6:00 PM, Sunday, January 29, 2023 (with publishing days as Friday, Sunday, and Monday based on ACG’s publishing schedule). Please have “Animate your life 50-word story” as the subtitle for your submission. CHALLENGE SUBMISSION BEGINS NOW!

Let’s explore what we can do with a fun topic that will allow us to reminisce, and hopefully have a great time while we get creative, too.

Bring it, beautiful people!

A Cornered Gurl Guidelines:Instagram

Originally published as a newsletter via A Cornered Gurl on Medium.