Sacred Bloom: A Healing Room for Women

If I start at the beginning, life was peaceful—simple like a front-porch morning. We didn’t have much, but we had enough. I grew up in a single-parent home, and it wasn’t the tragedy people imagine. We stretched what we had, laughed in small kitchens, shared hand-me-downs, and made joy out of ordinary days. I was super tiny, so aunties and neighbors hemmed and stitched my clothes by hand: waistbands tucked, hems lifted, love measured in inches and thread. As a fatherless daughter, I learned to improvise, and I carried a child’s quiet bargain with God: if I was good enough, maybe He would bring my dad back. Money said “not today” to a lot of extras, but community said “come sit with us” more times than I can count.

My mama had a circle: mamas who swapped rides, swapped laughter, swapped wisdom. We called it kinship; today folks call it a village. My daddy was missing, yes, but I wasn’t alone. Most of us in my circle didn’t have fathers at home. We had uncles who showed up, aunties who prayed loud, and great-grandmamas who kept the stories alive. My Uncle Rubin T. reminded me I was seen. Grandparents and great-grands stitched their strength right into my bones.

“God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.” — Psalm 46:5 (KJV

Back then, I used to ask myself: What are family dynamics, really? What were mine dynamics?
Now I ask you: What are your family dynamics now and past tense; and how did they shape the way you love, trust, and hope today? Who were your “village keepers” growing up? Name them. What rules of love did your home practice (spoken or unspoken)? Which patterns do you want to keep, repair, or release?

I honor the women that raised me. the teachers who carried me and discipline me, I honor the lessons: share what you have learned in your lived experience, tell your truth, who are you now, how do you honor, and who impacted your upbringing? I honor God, because while absence father presence left its echo, grace filled the room. Over time, I learned this: I may have grown up a fatherless daughter, but I was never without covering and love. And the covering taught me resilience. It taught me courage. It taught me to build a life that holds both truth and tenderness.

This is why I love Social and Emotional Learning. SEL gave language to what my village practiced by heart: naming feelings, regulating storms, repairing when we hurt one another, choosing connection on purpose. Faith taught me who I am; SEL taught me how to walk it out and understand life as a child.

Light & Love

Coach Charlie