Journal Entry… Number Nine. Hey… Can I tell you about my Beauty Queen? Maybe yours looked different. Maybe yours wasn’t your mom. Maybe it was your grandma… Your aunt… Your sister… Maybe it was the woman who loved you when she didn’t have to. Mine… was my mama. She wasn’t famous. Never walked a red carpet. Never wore a diamond crown. She worked long days… came home exhausted… and somehow still found enough love to pour into everyone else. She taught us that kindness didn’t cost a thing. That family meant showing up. That home wasn’t a house… It was her. She was the one who could calm a room without raising her voice. The one who made holidays feel like magic… even when money was tight. She carried burdens I never knew she was carrying. Smiled through battles I’ll probably never understand. Back then… I just thought she was my mom. Now… I realize she was the strongest woman I’ve ever known. Mama… that’s what you taught us. Reset. Restart. Repeat. Keep going. Even when life hurts. Love anyway. Even when it’s hard. You’ll always be my Beauty Queen. Not because of how you looked… But because of who you were. A heart so big it made broken people feel like they belonged. You never needed the world’s applause. You already had ours. I hear you every time I tell someone, “You’ll be okay.” I see you every time I choose kindness instead of anger. People tell me I’m stronger than I think I am. Truth is… they’re seeing pieces of you. A Wise Man teaches you how to face the world. A Beauty Queen teaches you how to love it. One showed me strength. One showed me grace. Together… they built the person I’m still becoming. And some nights… I still wonder… “What the hell is wrong with me?” Then I remember the woman who refused to quit. The woman who kept loving even when life gave her every reason not to. Maybe… I’m more like her than I realize. You’ll always be my Beauty Queen. Not because you were perfect. Because you were real. You loved. You sacrificed. You kept going. And if I can spend the rest of my life making people feel half as loved as you made us feel… Then maybe… I’ll wear your crown the way you taught me to. This one’s for my Beauty Queen. Maybe… you’re thinking about yours too. Hold them close. Tell them you love them. And if they’re already gone… Live in a way that would make them smile. Goodnight, Mama. Love, Kay. 🦋
