AlAnoud Writes

17072026

You’ve always been my sister, yet somehow more than that,

My closest friend, my equal; my constant where I sat.

I never saw you as the grown-up, never quite that way,

You were the one beside me, through every night and day.

And now, somehow, you’re standing at the doorway of a change,

A chapter bright and unfamiliar, beautiful and strange.

You’ve found a hand you want to hold, a heart with which to stay,

A person you can laugh with, and choose again each day.

And somehow, what delights me most, what settles something deep,

Is seeing how much of myself lives in the one you keep.

A little of my language, a little of my soul,

A warmth that feels familiar and makes the unknown whole.

So yes, I’m proud, and yes, I’m glad; my heart is full of cheer,

But underneath the happiness, there’s something else I fear.

For I have watched you carry worlds, and carry them alone,

And sometimes your greatest strength is the weight you’ve made your own.

You are stronger than you know, and stronger than you show,

But strength can turn against the heart when it refuses to let go.

So I hope you learn that being strong need not mean standing tall;

Sometimes the bravest thing to do is simply let love hold it all.

I hope you are not swallowed by the things that do not matter,

Nor lose your gentle self beneath the noise, the rush, the chatter.

I hope you keep your laughter, your softness, and your light,

And know that you are loved in every version, wrong or right.

Because this is not just your beginning, though it bears your name;

It changes something in us all, and nothing stays the same.

A new road opens before you, with horizons wide and new,

And somehow, in beginning yours, I find a beginning too.

So here’s to all you’re stepping toward, to all you’ll come to know,

To every joy that waits for you, to every place you’ll grow.

May love be less a promise made, and more a life you choose,

A thousand little moments that you’ll never want to lose.

And when the years have gathered softly, as they always do,

I hope you look beside you and still recognize the two

The woman you became, the girl I’ve always known,

And the sister who was never just my sister, but my home.

So go, my love, toward everything this life has yet to start,

With courage in your footsteps and your whole and tender heart.

For this may be your new beginning, shining, brave, and true

But wherever life may take you, I’ll be beginning there with you.