by, Samantha Syrnich TLC © July 21, 2025.
I’ve loved Nickelback and Chad Kroeger since 2001,
when “How You Remind Me” found me at 23 years old
and whispered,
“You’re not alone.”
Their music has been the pulse behind my survival,
the soundtrack to my silences,
the melody in my fight.
The song I return to now is:
🎵 “If Today Was Your Last Day” — Watch it here: [https://youtu.be/lrXIQQ8PeRs?si=Vv4aacCSSpmfMDzJ]
Because I’ve known what it is
to love quietly,
to protect people by stepping back,
and to wonder what it would feel like
to be seen fully and chosen anyway.
There are souls I choose—and they know who they are.
🟦 My 74-year-old hero in New Orleans—
who defends children like they are gold,
and whose soul feels like home to me.
🟦 The veteran doctor I loved for ten silent years—
who sang once and showed me who he really was.
Who didn’t just try to heal the world—he became the healing.
If I was protecting him by stepping back,
all I want now is the chance
to step forward even just in friendship now.
🟦 The veteran doctor in the East,
another soul forged in duty,
who walks this earth with quiet power and honor.
❤️ My brother, gone to the other side—
the sound of his engine still roaring in my veins.
🎖️ And other veterans I carry,
because they’ve carried me in spirit more times than they know.
This boat… it isn’t a dream.
It’s a promise.
No crowds. No obligations.
Just music.
Just the sea.
Just the few I love
and the peace we never got to have.
My life belongs to veterans, children, and beauty now—
the art in every breath,
the story in every scar,
the power in every choice I still get to make.
I already picked the boat.
I already chose the song.
I already chose you.
And if there’s one last thing I want to say to each of you—
I’ve Loved You All Along.
💙
— Samantha Syrnich TLC
The Phoenix Quill: Words Born of Fire, Inked in Truth 