I built my entire idea of what marriage was supposed to look like around a television show. Nobody told me it wasn't real. And nobody told me that real people come into love already carrying things, wounds that shape everything about how they give love and how they receive it. Almost nineteen years in, I am finally learning what real love actually looks like. Not the Huxtables. Not roses or grand gestures or a highlight reel. Something better than that. This is our love story

He's alive. But I lost him at 15 when he went to prison. I've spent 28 years trying to save my twin brother while grieving the story we were supposed to tell together. This is about what happens when you can't save the person you came into the world with.

I used my obedience to God as a weapon against the people who hurt me. The vision was pure, but my flesh crept in. Here's what it cost me, and what I learned about honoring while obeying.