Between Birthdays & Beyond The Veil

A Holy Goodbye and A Sacred Beginning

May 3, 2025 | Written by Belle Cruz

This week, something in my world shifted forever—my beloved grandmother passed away.

Her life was quiet, faithful, and strong in ways that words would only fall short of honoring. She carried generations of stories in her bones, and though she has now returned Home, I feel her presence more deeply than ever—woven into the very fabric of who I am.

But what has taken my breath away is the timing.

She passed between two birthdays: my older brother’s, just days ago, and my mother’s, which is coming up this week. And here I am—her granddaughter—stepping into my voice like never before: launching my coaching practice, sharing my poetry aloud for the first time at an open mic, and opening the doors to a healing space I’ve been building from the ashes of my own story.

It would be easy to brush off the timing as coincidence. But I’ve walked with God long enough to know: there are no coincidences in the Kingdom.

This is holy timing.
A divine threshold.
A sacred exchange between heaven and earth.

As my grandmother breathed her last, something in me awakened. A mantle dropped into my spirit. The quiet strength she carried—through all her years of sacrifice, love, and resilience—has not vanished. It has transferred. I feel it now in my bones, in my boldness, in my breath as I speak, write, and create.

Her passing wasn’t just an ending.
It was a commissioning.

In this moment of both grief and glory, I believe God is showing me something:
That as one life ends, another rises.
That I am being called not just to grieve—but to carry.
To carry the light, the wisdom, the legacy.
To carry the healing not just for myself, but for every woman who’s still trapped in silence.
To be a voice that echoes through generations of women who never had the chance to speak.

God is using this moment to remind me that beauty does rise from ashes, and life is most sacred at the edges—where endings meet beginnings, where mourning meets mission.

So I honor her today.
And I say yes.

Yes to the call.
Yes to the healing.
Yes to becoming the woman she prayed I would one day be.

Lola, I feel you with me.
Thank you for everything.
I will carry this torch well.

Legacy of a Faithful Woman

For my Grandmother Tina
By Belle Cruz

She was a woman of the Word–

not just in voice,

but in every quiet act of devotion.

Her faith wasn’t loud,

but it shook the ground beneath our family

and covered us like a shield.

She stood tall when the world bent low,

weathering storms with a spine of scripture 

and knees worn soft from prayer.

The church wasn’t just a place she visited–

it was the air she breathed,

the rhythm of her life,

the altar where she laid each one of us down

in intercession.

She tried to get me to church five times a week–

and if she could’ve,

she would’ve had us all sleeping in the pews

so our dreams could be baptized too.

Her love wasn’t always easy.

sometimes it was tough,

quiet, wrapped in discipline and expectation.

But underneath it all–

was a devotion that didn’t falter,

a grace that didn’t let go,

a strength that held us when we didn’t know 

we were falling.

She stayed strong when everyone else was weak.

She prayed for us when we didn’t know we

needed prayer.

And maybe–

just maybe–

it’s her prayers that are still holding this family together,

threads of heaven that haven’t let us go.

She didn’t need to say “I love you” everyday.

She lived it–

in the way she endured,

believed, 

and stood unshaken.

Her love covered us,

storm after storm.

And though her voice is silent now,

I know she’s not gone.

She’s just gone ahead–

a little closer to Jesus than we are,

still praying, still watching,

still holding us from heaven.

Her faith lives in me.

and her love,

not proud, but quiet as is was,

was always enough.