I Asked for the Meeting

Dear Delyara, Not because I felt bold. Because I was tired of waiting to be discovered while quietly shrinking. I wrote the email. Clear, respectful, direct. No apology for existing. No complicated little dance to make the request seem smaller than it was. I asked. The answer matters, yes. But the real shift happened before the answer. I made myself visible. And after so many years of hoping good work alone would protect me from needing self-advocacy, that felt enormous. I am proud of that version of me. The one who asked.