Not everybody gets the same reconciliation. Most of us just wade in the uncertainty of whether we will ever feel whole again – and the truth is, we might not. That person did take a part of us with them. Nothing can change that. But maybe we can be like starfish and grow our limbs back in the meantime. We still lost something, but we also gain something back.

In her I was able to see a woman work through old, deep pain and come out the other side. I saw her walk through grief I thought I would carry with me for the rest of my life. I saw her sisters carry her through it.