The grief of losing a loved one never leaves you; it haunts you like a specter, forever reminding you that they once existed. There will be days where you almost forget them, the pain, the hollowness, the space that they left that you can't ever fill; sadness seems to follow you like a shadow and then there are moments where you laugh wholeheartedly, uninhibited by anything; sunshine warms your body and everything feels okay. Grief comes and goes and washes over you again and again and over time, the pain lessens not by much but it lessens and you learn to pick up the pieces of your broken heart and you live, not for them, but for you; you look back with the knowledge that inside of you, you carry the memories and the love that you shared and that you would do it again because having known them has made your life infinitely better.