The Ties that Connect Us 🫶

Today I was cleaning out my bathroom drawers when I came across the butterfly bracelet I took as a small token to remember my friend Nikki by. She died in a sudden, unexpected car accident four years ago today.

Even though I’m not usually one for jewelry, I found myself putting on a few bracelets I’ve gathered through the years (friendship bracelets, travel souvenirs, gifts I’ve exchanged with people I love) as a reminder of the invisible threads that connect us all.

December often holds both love and heartache. Light, joyful moments and darker, challenging ones. So, If this time of year feels heavy or tender for you at times…that’s okay. You don’t have to rush through difficult feelings or sweep them under the rug. You can just be with them, allow them, and feel them fully.

Today I’m remembering and reflecting on my lifelong friendship with Nikki.

We first connected in early high school when she moved to town and somehow convinced me to be a cheerleader 📣 (at the time I could think of nothing more outside of my comfort zone…something tells me she would have loved my baby-stepping into bodybuilding now that I think of it! 🤔)…thankfully, we also reconnected as adults when I visited Phoenix, AZ where she had moved to work and start a family, and later through regular calls to catch up and ongoing use of Marco Polo, an app I can’t recommend enough for keeping in touch asynchronously with loved ones at a distance. It’s thanks to that app that I have this clip of Nikki with her daughter Lola - such a precious memory! 🥹

Nikki’s family, daughter Lola, and husband Cesar, continue to live and honor her legacy and keep her memory alive, as does every person she touched during her life. 💗 I feel so lucky to have been connected with her; today, I am feeling particularly grateful for all of the ties and connections in my life, old and new, that continue to shape who I am. 💫