Phoenix: Live Love Laugh

From surviving Sickle Cell and a coma to achieving a master’s degree and touching lives with her smile—Andrea shares why she’s her own Woman Crush Wednesday, living proof that faith, fire, and fight still win.

I Am My Own #WCW

Woman Crush Wednesday—better known as #WCW—is usually for tagging women we find inspiring, beautiful, or crush-worthy. It started on Twitter but has taken over all of social media as a way to spotlight women we admire.

Most times I’d post a cute photo with the hashtag and call it a day.
But today… I thought about all the reasons beyond a picture that make me my own Woman Crush Wednesday.

Here’s Why I’m My Own WCW:

• I’ve always been single. So every accomplishment, I’ve achieved solo.
• I was born with Sickle Cell Disease—a lifelong condition many see as a slow, painful sentence.
• I was told I ruined my life at 18 for getting pregnant…
  Yet I graduated high school 15th in my class out of 350, without ever taking the SAT.
• I moved from NY to VA and was told, “You’ll be back.” I never went back.
• I was rejected from my first grad school. The admissions counselor said,
  “You’re just an admin assistant—that’s all you’ll ever be.”
• I fell into a coma in 2014. They said I would never talk, walk, or write again.
  I did all three—and more.

And Yet… I Rise

• I’ve lost a home, a job, insurance, a 401K, and even a fully paid timeshare.
• I’ve lived through brain damage.
• I’ve spent 3 years in 24/7 pain.
• But I’ve also completed a 5K Color Run, taught children, published books, traveled solo to Mexico, and most of all…
  I never gave up.

When others see me, they say:

• “You radiate.”
• “You have a halo.”
• “There’s something about your smile.”
  Even strangers have stopped me just to say I inspire them.

That’s when I realized—
God gave me this glow.
And I’ve earned the oil in my alabaster box.

The Oil You Don’t See

CeCe Winans says it best:

“You weren’t there the night Jesus found me.
You did not feel what I felt when He wrapped His loving arms around me.
You don’t know the cost of the oil in my alabaster box.”

So yes—I am my own Woman Crush Wednesday.
And to every woman reading this, so are you.
Don’t wait for others to clap for you—honor your own journey.

Scriptures That Carry Me:

• Romans 8:28 – “All things work together for good…”
• Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ…”
• Jeremiah 17:14 – “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed…”
• Isaiah 54:17 – “No weapon formed against me shall prosper…”
• Psalm 138:8 – “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me…”

Note to Self:

You go, girl.
Keep that Black magic flowing.
Keep that warrior glow blazing.
You’re not bragging—you’re surviving out loud.