It’s harsh at first, takes your breath away and brings you to your knees
You go on throughout your day and then you remember
Their voice, their laugh, the form of their mouth, their essence
How is it that the world carries on?
Don’t they know that everything is forever changed and will never be the same?
Of course we are never ready for it,
But you can’t prepare for death, even if you know it’s coming because you don’t really know until it finally occurs and you feel it in your bones.
Missing them doesn’t stop,
It’s like swimming in the ocean,
with your body going under each wave again and again,
you come up for air and breathe for the moment
knowing, it will come back again.
Each day is long and yet you have reasons to live.
What gives your life meaning now?
Your precious family, friends or your life’s work….does it all really matter?
Of course it does, this is all that matters.
This and your solid soul remembering to live.
Even with loss, immense loss, we must live.
Even when we don’t want to, even when it feels too hard.
What measure do we provide of the love we received from them to give up now?
Yes, we must live to show others how we have been forever changed by those who’ve gone before us.
We must pass it on.
