When I Met You I Became Brave
by Valerie Parente

When I met you I became brave
I became someone who moves forward
even though they’re afraid.
It’s not an absence of fear
it’s just fear with a name
because my world became whole
and now that I know the stakes
I choose to live in spite of the fear
I choose to keep going anyway.
And that, to me, is what it means to be brave,
to be someone who looks forward
to the next day.

– Valerie Parente (8-29-2026)