Love, I learned, isn't proven when everything is fine.
It is tested in hardship — in the silence after an argument, in the struggle to find tomorrow's meal.
My husband and I faced those tests often.
There were days when frustration filled the room, when our dreams seemed too far away.
Yet each time, we found our way back to prayer.
He would take my hand and say, "Let's give it to God again."
Those words became our lifeline.
Slowly, we began to find small stability — my siblings got into school, I started trading little things for profit, and he found more work.
It wasn't much, but it was something.
Even in the noise of life, I never forgot the silence of that night when Mama died.
I promised myself I would never let my children face that same darkness alone.