Running

I became a different person over lockdown. Eight years of working solidly, socialising and exercising suddenly stopped and all the trauma I’d been running from caught up with me. I wasn’t the girl you fell in love with; I wasn’t gregarious and outgoing and confident. I was stuck in the dark, duvet over my head, unable to face the day. I was running compulsively until I tore the muscle in my calf. I could feel his hands on me, not yours. Then, I started therapy. Things got worse before they got better, but you loved every version of me. You were there every step of the way as I found myself again. As the world opened up again, I had a whole new outlook on us, and what we could do together. As the next lockdown hit, we found out we were going to be parents. It was a hard pregnancy and a difficult birth, but you’ve loved this new version of me just as much.