The Woman Who Never Walked — But Left Footprints on My Soul | by sterlin | Jul, 2025

With Her, I Begin: A Story of My Aunt Sahayammeri

Some stories don’t begin with grand achievements or loud applause.
Some begin quietly… with love, longing, and the soft memory of someone who lived gently, yet deeply.

This is the story of my aunt Sahayammeri the woman who never walked a single step in her life, yet walked into every heart that ever knew her.

She was born without legs.
In a time and place where life was already hard, she arrived carrying a burden no child should bear. But if you met her, you wouldn’t see pain you’d see peace. If you spoke to her, you wouldn’t hear complaints you’d hear care. Her presence was a balm. Her smile, a quiet revolution.

She was my mother’s younger sister: soft-spoken, gentle, overflowing with unconditional love. She didn’t run through fields or dance like the other girls. She couldn’t. But every evening, she sat on the veranda, watching children play in the street. I often wonder what dreams she nurtured in her still body. What worlds she built behind those watchful eyes.

She never told us.

She never asked for anything.
Never cried aloud.
Never whispered, “Why me?”

Instead, she gave.
She gave her time to her sisters.
She gave warmth to our home.
She gave love — pure, unfiltered, selfless love — to everyone who crossed her path.

But life was cruel. When illness came, our village had no medicine to fight it. She left this world not because she was weak… but because the world failed her strength.

And I?
I still carry her silence.
Her memory.
Her dreams.

Last week, something extraordinary happened. Through my uncle, through my mother I felt her. Not a memory, not a wish… but a presence. For three days, I wept like a child discovering a loss they’d never fully understood.

If she were here today, she’d be my fiercest cheerleader. My unshakable support. And I know know she would have moved mountains. Because strength like hers doesn’t break. It blooms in the quietest places.

So today, I begin this journey with her blessings.

After 13 years of false starts and stumbles, I’m finally here. Writing. Sharing. Believing. I don’t know where this road leads. But I trust in the fire she left in me the same fire that lives in every woman who’s been told she’s too much or not enough.

This isn’t just her story.
It’s for every girl who’s shrinking herself to fit small spaces.
Every woman who’s been told to sit quietly, to settle, to surrender.
Every soul that’s been cracked open by life and still dares to hope.

You are more than your scars.
More than your struggles.
More than the silence they tried to bury you in.

Like my aunt you are strength in its most breath taking form.

And today, with tears, with gratitude, with a heart blazing with hope…

I begin.

For you, Sahayammeri.
For your love.
For your strength.
For the dreams you couldn’t chase but now live through mine.

Disclaimer: This is a true personal story shared with love and respect. The image is a symbolic, AI-generated tribute. Some parts reflect my memories and emotions. No professional advice is given. Shared with the hope to inspire and honor strength in silence.