So, what happened to the woman who escaped through the tunnel? What did she do with her new-found freedom and empowerment? She found renewed life in an unexpected job — one that she was very good at. She continued to work and excel at her job, but her personal life was more complicated. She found new relationships — some good, and some bad (those stories shall be saved for another time). She suffered through more challenges but, with each one, she grew stronger and stronger.

You see, something happened in that tunnel. When she ascended from the darkness, she was given powers that she didn’t know she had. Powers to reach out, to ask for help, and to dig new tunnels when she needed to. Every time she faced a challenge, she found an escape route, and every time I watched her grow stronger.

She learned to gather people around her — people that could be trusted and would speak truth to her each time someone tried to speak lies or manipulate her. She found people that she could not only share her battles with, but that would fight alongside her, when needed. Life was far from perfect, but it got better — she got better, and she grew stronger.

She was brave. She was a warrior. She was a survivor. And she discovered her true name: “strong”. Her Celtic name: “Brianna”. And she carries that name with her, to this day.