@holisticfreedomcoaching: 18 years ago today, I went in for what was supposed to be a simple emergency appendectomy. I almost didn’t come home. During surgery, my iliac artery was nicked. I was bleeding out while waiting for a vascular surgeon to be flown in from a hospital over an hour away. I coded twice on that table. I needed a 2 liter blood transfusions and ended up in the ICU, in a coma with 25 staples fighting for my life. I survived. But it took me years to understand what surviving had left me carrying. PTSD. Survivor’s guilt. The unraveling of everything I thought I knew. That day began an unbreaking—a painful, emotional journey through healing, faith, forgiveness, and learning how to live with what happened. For years, I cursed this day and my scar in silence. I pushed through the pain, put on my game face, and pretended I was fine. I knew how to keep going. I’m fine, I lived, I should be grateful. I didn’t know how to acknowledge how deeply I was hurting. But over these last 18 years, God has patiently walked me toward the hard things. One step. One layer. Many tears. Some years, I feel how far I’ve come. Other years, the hurt feels close again. I’m learning to meet those moments with more compassion instead of questioning all the healing that came before them. I’m getting better at asking for what I need around this anniversary. At being honest with myself. At giving myself permission to need tenderness, space, and support. And this year, something happened that I will never forget. For the first time on this anniversary, someone showed up for me without me asking. My husband surprised me with a date night and said, “We are going to celebrate you, because I want to celebrate you being here.” Those words reached a place in me that had been hurting for years. It was one of the most healing moments of this entire journey. Grief is messy. Carrying it alone can feel so heavy. Having someone come beside you, acknowledge what this day holds, and remind you that your presence matters… that is priceless. There was room for everything that night: the pain of what happened, gratitude that I survived, and the joy of being here together. Maybe that’s what I’m learning to allow this season to be—a beautiful, broken part of my story that deserves both tenderness and celebration. I can’t force grief onto a timeline. I can give it room to be felt and honored. Each year, I learn to trust myself and God’s timing a little more. To appreciate the woman I’m becoming. To offer compassion even to the parts of my story I’ve hated, hidden, or wished away. Today, I choose to show up for myself. To honor what I lived through. To receive the love being offered to me. And to thank Jesus for these 18 years. 🙏 So here I am—real, raw, and still healing. Friend, you don’t have to hide the tender places to be worthy of love. You can let someone meet you right where you are. 💫 My scar is where my brokenness and my healing learned to dance. 💫 These scars hold a story. And today, I’m grateful I’m here to tell it. #EmbraceYourScars #Survivor #FaithOverFear #HealingJourney #SecondChance

Valerie Snyder

Open In TikTok:

Region: US

Tuesday 03 November 2026 00:41:19 GMT