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Dear One:

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I remember you.
Before the edits.
Before the apologies.
Before the shrinking.

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You were too loud, too curious, too radiant—and you knew.
You knew it wasn’t wrong to take up space.
You knew magic didn’t need proof.
You knew that silence was not the same as peace.

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I remember when you laughed so hard it startled people.
When you cried in public and didn’t care.
When you wore glitter like armor.

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They called you dramatic.
But you were just alive.

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I remember you.
And I’m still here.

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—The You From Before

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© 2025 Nikkia Gumbs · The House of the Sun

This work is a gift.  It may be shared freely—with credit and care. But it may not be sold, altered, or folded into any system that seeks profit.  You may carry it. You may teach from it.  You may whisper it to someone who forgot their light.  But you may not use it  to build your brand, sell a product, or extract value.  This is not content. This is living sunlight. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International.   creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0