We don’t abandon what helped us survive — we thank it and repurpose it.
I didn’t get into Rover because I had a long-term plan. I got into it because life shifted underneath me. My father had passed, we were navigating the sale of his condo, and everything around me felt uncertain. I needed structure. I needed movement. I needed something steady when my world didn’t feel that way anymore.
Rover met me there.
In that season, I wasn’t trying to build something big. I was trying to stay grounded. The work was physical. It got me out of the house. It gave me a reason to move. It encouraged me to show up. It made me feel useful when grief made everything feel heavy and disorienting. There was comfort in being needed, in having a schedule, in caring for something outside of my own loss.
And for a while, that was enough.
Over time, the grief changed. Not disappeared — but integrated. The sharp edges softened. I could breathe again. I could think again. Creativity began returning in small, quiet ways. Writing started calling me back. Travel entered the picture through house-sitting. Reflection became less about survival and more about meaning.
Nothing was wrong with Rover.
I just wasn’t in the same place anymore.
What I’m learning now is that some things are meant to be seasonal. They serve us fully for a time, and then they ask to be held differently. Letting something evolve doesn’t mean it failed. It doesn’t mean we failed. It means we’re listening.
Rover was never just pet care for me. It was support. It was stability. It was a bridge during a hard season. And I don’t need to reject that part of my story to grow beyond it.
Gratitude doesn’t need permanence.
I can appreciate what helped me survive without needing to carry it the same way forever. I can honor the version of myself who needed that structure. At the same time, I can make room for who I’m becoming now.
Some things walk with us for a while.
They teach us what we need.
And then they ask to be repurposed.
That isn’t loss.
It’s growth — with memory.
Reflection Prompt
What supported you during a hard season — and how might it be asking to be held differently now?
Author’s Note
This reflection isn’t about leaving something behind. It’s about honoring what carried me through. It also involves recognizing when it’s time to relate to it differently.
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By Tonia Tyler | #ConfidentStrides | Sweet N Social
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