Grief will make you think your story stopped the day they died.
That the moment your world shattered… everything that came after is just survival.
That your best days are locked behind a door you’ll never get the key to again.
I used to feel that way.
Like my life was split in two…before and after.
And somehow, the “after” couldn’t possibly hold the same joy, beauty, or meaning.
But I’m learning now that the past?
It’s a chapter.
Not the whole story.
The Past Deserves Its Place… But Not the Whole Book
I will always carry my love for him.
Always remember the life we had.
Always feel his absence on birthdays, at the dinner table, during the quietest parts of my day.
But I don’t live there anymore.
Not fully.
Because there are new pages being written.
Ones filled with unexpected laughter, soft new beginnings, and healing I didn’t know was possible.
The past shaped me. But it doesn’t define me.
What I Had to Let Go of to Write My Next Chapter:
• The belief that joy would never feel real again
• The guilt of smiling while still missing him
• The fear that moving forward meant moving on
• The identity that only saw me as his widow
• The idea that I couldn’t build something beautiful without him here
Who I’m Becoming Now
A woman who knows pain but doesn’t bow to it.
A mother who teaches her kids how to hold love and loss at the same time.
A partner who honors the past while making room for a future.
A storyteller. A space holder. A healed-but-still-healing soul.
If You’ve Been Stuck in the “Before”…
You’re not wrong for looking back.
But don’t forget to look around.
There is life happening in front of you.
There is joy that doesn’t cancel the pain.
There is more to your story and you’re allowed to live it.
Turn the page.
Let the past be the chapter that shaped you…
Not the one that silences you.
With gentle hands and an open heart,
La 💙
