It happened before I even started school —
a goodbye I never wanted,
never understood, but have carried ever since.
It was with the most important person in my life.
She was strong —
strong enough to fight death with all her might,
just to hold off that painful goodbye.
But in the end,
God won,
and He took her far away from me.
So far…
that we never met again.
So far…
that all I have now are stories, photographs,
and pieces of her living gently in our memories.
Her absence became my first grief,
her love —
my first lesson in strength.