We hug our loved ones a little tighter in the shadow of someone's passing.
We learn that we should live every day like it's our last because it just might be.
We tell the people we love how we feel in case we don't get another chance to.
And, with tears in our eyes, we understand just how fragile this life is.
But, as time moves on, these lessons fade, and we return to assuming the people we love know how we feel, that there's plenty of time, there'll be plenty of chances. Call it human nature, call it optimism, call it hope, call it selective amnesia.
And while we go about our days complaining about the worst parts of growing up...work, bills, responsibilities...we ultimately realize that the worst part of growing up is actually the realization that, at any given moment, we could receive that phone call; the one telling us someone we care about is gone forever.
So then we hug our loved ones a little tighter.
We learn that we should live every day like it's our last.
We tell the people we love how we feel.
And, with tears streaming down our faces, we understand just how fragile this life is.
The hardest goodbyes are the ones that are never spoken, the ones we never saw coming, the ones that occur only in our minds, only after they've gone. The hardest goodbyes take a piece of our hearts, steal a bit of our souls, but always carry a message. We can listen or we can ignore it. We can learn or we can forget. We can re-write it, share it, or keep it to ourselves. We can be strong and say that everything will be alright. And it will. But those who claim to be an open book always have a story behind their eyes that they will never tell.
And now, in the strong embrace of grief, in the aftermath of the hardest goodbye,
We hug our loved ones a little tighter,
We learn that we should live every day like it's our last,
We tell the people we love how we feel,
And, as the tears dry up on our cheeks, we understand just how fragile this life is.
