The Tribe of After

“My heart is shattered, still. It is healing, slowly, in the ways that it can mend. It will always have holes in it, and maybe some other evidence of deep, painful loss, and it will never be the same as it was Before. It is both stronger and more fragile.

More open, and still, closed off.

Our losses are different, but I recognize yours. I hear your words and feel pain because it all traces down to the same roots. I recognize your pain because I've felt my own. Our stories aren't the same, and the name for our loss or the relationship we grieve may be different, but I want you to know I recognize your loss as true and real.

Above all else, I'd want you to feel your loss is validated. Accepted.

I hear you.

I bow to you.” ~ Megan Devine