She walked into the hospital during her callback. She was wheeled out paralyzed from the neck down.
A second round of COVID took her voice. It took her strength. It took her ability to move at all.
Before that, Adassa spent nearly 20 years in music. Four octaves. Songs with Pitbull, Flo Rida, Snoop Dogg, and Daddy Yankee. Writing credits at Warner, Universal, and SONY. Then she walked away from all of it to raise her family — and a YouTube video with about 300 views brought her back.
None of that mattered in the moments she couldn't hold her own children or care for herself. As a devoted, loving mother who used to serve her family, it was her turn to be loved on. She found the miracle in unconditional love and eternal value as a Child of God.
Adassa wrote about that season in her new memoir, Love, Keep Showing Up: Music, Messes and Miracles. Every chapter has a song that goes with it. Her husband produced the album in Nashville, where they live now.
What she came back with is the whole reason I wanted her on this show:
You are a beloved child of God no matter what you face. Your value does not change. Not when your body fails you. Not when you have nothing left to give anyone. Love from above was already there the whole time, and the hardest lessons of this life are what finally let us understand that at depth.
She also learned something I needed to hear as a mother. When she could not be in control of everything, her children came together as a team and served each other. She had been keeping them from that blessing by doing it all herself.
What you can take with you this week:
→ Rocks before sand. Adassa's to-do list used to be all high priority, which meant none of it was. Put God in the day first, then family, then let the small things fill in the gaps. It does not fit the other way around.
→ Let someone serve you. Including your kids. Especially your kids.
→ Protect silence. She used to fill every moment with noise. Now she listens — which is, fittingly, Dolores's whole gift.
One line worth sitting with: "Sometimes that strength could be a smile. Sometimes that strength is just hanging on for another day and knowing that there's still hope."
Get Adassa's memoir and connect with her: https://www.adassa-official.com/
Everything from The Resilient Mother Podcast: https://linktr.ee/theresilientmotherpodcast
If this one met you where you are, send it to a mother who needs it and leave a review. That's how the next resilient woman finds us.
With you in the process,
Tiffany Lorraine Galloway
Host of The Resilient Mother Podcast
© 2026 Tiffany Lorraine Galloway
Thank you for listening!!!
Would you like to be a guest on the Podcast? Connect with Tiffany here: https://linktr.ee/theresilientmotherpodcast
