I don't remember every moment we shared.
I don't remember every conversation, or every word of wisdom.
Those memories are blurred through the distance of time, but the emotions I feel from those memories reach back like threads, connecting me to you. They weave together to create a blanket of the warmth and happiness that I felt when I was around you.
It is the last embrace from you, created from all the moments we shared
I can't make that blanket stretch over the space you've left in my heart, but I still wear it, because it is now the only thing I have left from you.
Your gift to me over a lifetime spent being my grandfather.
My Pop.
Even as I feel buried by regret and grief, I think how fortunate I am to have such a deep scar, created purely by your absence. What else could have broken my heart this way, if not an extraordinary love?
As odd as it sounds, I feel that I'm lucky that I can hurt this much, because it reflects how wonderful you were to me and reminds me that I'm still here to feel that pain.
The pain will pass. The love never will.