My entire life’s purpose, keeping Mom alive and happy, was for nothing. All those years I spent focusing on her, all the time I spent orienting my every thought and action toward what I thought would please her most, were pointless. Because now she’s gone.

Paul, après votre mort, votre famille va s’effondrer. Mais je sais qu’elle se relèvera pour honorer l’exemple de courage que vous nous donnez à tous.

“Death ends a life, not a relationship.”

Parents often say, “I’d die for my child.” I heard a few of the parents in the grief group express the wish to trade places with their deceased children—to die so their children could live. After the war, I felt the same way. I would have gladly died to bring my parents and grandparents back.

But now I know that instead of dying for my dead, I can l

Grief never ends, but we find a way to walk in the light someone has left behind, rather than living in pain’s shadow.