Grief is strange.

Sometimes we grieve the people we have lost. Sometimes we grieve relationships that changed. And sometimes we grieve something that never fully existed, but meant everything to us because we believed it still could.

That is the kind of grief people do not always understand.

How do you explain mourning a future that only lived in your heart?

How do you explain the pain of realizing that something you quietly hoped for was never waiting for you on the other side?

There are times when we hold onto possibilities long after life has started moving in another direction. We tell ourselves that maybe the timing was wrong. Maybe healing still needs to happen. Maybe one day the person who could not love us the way we needed will finally understand what they

I do not even know how to write this.

I keep staring at my phone like somehow the news is going to change. Like maybe I misunderstood. Like maybe if I read the message again, it will say something different.

But it does not.

Someone I loved is gone.

I am not going to share his name here. Some people and some stories are too sacred to lay out fully for the world. But I can say this: he was family to me. Not by blood, but by love. By showing up. By being there. By becoming part of the holidays, the hard days, the ordinary days, and the moments that no one else even knew about.

Greetings, fellow readers,

Today, my heart feels heavy as I navigate the complex emotions that come with loss. Recently, my dear cousin departed this world, leaving an indescribable void in my life. As I grapple with the pain, I find solace in sharing my thoughts on the intricate nature of grief.

Expressing Grief Authentically

Grieving is a deeply personal journey, and there’s no predetermined timeline for healing. In the midst of my sorrow, I’ve encountered opinions suggesting that expressing grief openly implies a lack of faith. To the contrary, I firmly believe that acknowledging our pain doesn’t diminish our trust in a higher power. It’s a testament to our