By Princess Crystal
There are moments in life so surreal, so overwhelming, that you find yourself wondering if you’ve slipped into some kind of nightmare. That’s exactly how I felt the day I broke my leg — and found out my mom was dying — all within minutes of each other.
It started with a fall. One wrong step, a sharp twist, a terrible crack. The pain was immediate and undeniable — I had broken my right leg. The kind of pain that steals your breath and blurs your vision. Paramedics were called, and soon I was being loaded into the back of an ambulance, trying to breathe through the agony, trying to stay calm.
Then my phone rang.
I almost didn’t answer. I was strapped down, hurting, overwhelmed. But something — maybe instinct — told me to take the call. That’s when I heard the words no one is ever ready for:
“Your mom is in the ER. She’s not going to make it.”
I remember freezing. Not from the pain in my leg — that was still screaming — but from something deeper. Something that cracked through my chest and dropped me into a darker kind of pain. I was in an ambulance, completely helpless, unable to get to her, unable to say goodbye.
Grief is strange. It doesn’t wait for the right time. It doesn’t care if you’re strong, or ready, or whole. And in that moment, I was none of those things. I was broken — physically and emotionally — and drowning in the realization that life can change in the span of a phone call.
That day marked a shift in my world. My leg would eventually heal — after surgery, physical therapy, and time. But the part of me that lost my mom? That’s a wound that never really closes. It just becomes a part of who you are.
I still think about how surreal it was — being on a stretcher, sirens in the background, and learning my mom was slipping away. There was no final hug, no goodbye, no time to prepare. Just a sharp break in my leg and a sharper break in my heart.
But I also think about what my mom would say now.
She’d say I’m strong.
She’d say she’s proud.
She’d tell me to keep going, even when it hurts. Especially when it hurts.
And so I do.
I’m sharing this story because I know I’m not alone. Life throws storms at all of us — sometimes all at once. If you’re going through something unbearable, please know you’re not alone. And if you’re carrying pain you haven’t told anyone about, I see you. I feel it too.
We get through this not by pretending we’re okay, but by being real — raw, messy, and human.
To anyone who’s ever had to keep breathing while their world was falling apart:
You are not alone.
We are Dragon Strong.
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If you’ve been through something similar and need a place to talk, grieve, or just not feel so alone, I invite you to join me at the Dragon Strong Circle. No pressure. Just support. 🐉💜
Copyright 2025
Crystal Amon
Princess Crystal Says 
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