[Bonjour] Reader,

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In March of 2024, my husband lost his job of 18 years. I still remember the stunned, lost look in his eyes when he told me—the same look I'd wear myself 9 months later, when my own position was eliminated on New Year's Eve.

In those first shocking days after his layoff, I did what many of us do: I became the "strong one." I crafted pep talks about new beginnings. I spoke confidently about opportunities ahead. I reminded him that endings often disguise themselves as beginnings.

But here's what I never admitted: being the strong one is terrifying. While outwardly projecting wisdom and certainty, I was privately wrestling with my own fears. What if I was wrong? What if this wasn't an opportunity in disguise?

Looking back now, I see God's hand in the timing of it all.

By October, my husband had proven me right. He landed a role that excited him more than his previous position ever had.

We exhaled. We celebrated. We started planning vacations again. And I quietly filed away those encouraging speeches I'd given, never imagining I'd hear them again—in his voice.

But life, as it often does, had other plans…

I got the call at noon on New Year's Eve. My job was being eliminated. I had 2 weeks to wrap up my work and make a new plan.

I felt that familiar swirl of panic—the same one I'd helped my husband through months before. Before I could spiral, he stepped in. And suddenly, I was hearing my own words of comfort reflected back to me, but with the authority of someone who'd lived them.

"Remember what you told me?" he said. "About endings and beginnings?"

I did remember. I had said it over and over again until he began to believe me.

"We're going to be okay," he said.

When I had told my husband, "this could be an opportunity for you," I was speaking from hope. When he tells me the same thing now, he's speaking from proof.

Sometimes we have to be strong for others. Sometimes we give the comfort we'll need later. And sometimes—if we're lucky—we discover that all those encouraging words we offered were true all along.

What about you? Have you ever been on both sides of a crisis? Reply and share your story—I read every response.

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À bientôt,

Sara