I met Anna for coffee recently.

I wanted to check in on her journey. I also had something special to share—her Distinguished Panelist Award from RedMane Technology. Anna had spoken so powerfully during their February webinar, The Intersection Between Data and Trauma-Informed Practice: A Critical Link for Family Well-Being. Her voice stayed with people.

When I handed her the award, she lit up. She traced her name etched into the glass, smiling in a way that felt both proud and a little disbelieving.

“This couldn’t have come at a better time,” she said.

And then, like life tends to do, the truth followed.

She had just lost her third-shift security job. The environment had been toxic, and despite her efforts, she couldn’t build a healthy relationship with her supervisor. Around the same time, she faced a health scare—surgery to remove an oversized ovarian cyst. On another front, she and her ex-husband were in mediation, working to establish boundaries and expectations.

And in the middle of all of it—she was still being Anna.

A mom to two daughters.
A student in Dental Assistant classes.
A DoorDasher when time allowed.
A substitute teacher when opportunities came through.

She took a sip of her coffee and said it plainly:

“Life is life-ing. This is a rough patch. I’m trying to figure out what I need to learn.”

There was no performance in it. No gloss. Just honesty.

Anna admitted there are moments when it all feels like too much—moments of depression, moments of overwhelm. She’s thinking about finding a therapist to help her navigate this season, to give language and structure to the weight she’s carrying.

And yet—she keeps moving.

In the middle of the messiness, Anna studied. She showed up for her exam. And she got in.

This October, she’ll begin a Dental Hygienist Associate program.
This September, she’ll graduate from her Dental Assistant program.

Forward motion, even when the ground feels uncertain.

And then, with a softer smile, she told me something else:

“My daughter is graduating from kindergarten. I can’t believe how fast my girls are growing up.”

There it was—the other side of the story. Not just the hardship, but the heartbeat. The reason she keeps going.

Anna continues to pray. To reflect. To journal. To do the quiet, internal work that doesn’t always show up on a resume or a timeline—but changes everything.

If you’ve been following Anna’s story, you know this isn’t new. Growth rarely comes in clean, linear lines. It comes in chapters like this one—complicated, stretching, and deeply human.

A rough patch.

But not the end of the story.

If anything, it’s where the learning lives.

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To follow Anna’s journey from the beginning:
Chapter 1: Anna’s Story
Chapter 2: Anna’s Journey to Empowerment