Between Hello and Goodbye
Letter board displaying the quote “We are shaped by the stories we carry” by Brent Brown, set against a soft dandelion, colored knit blanket background.
Editor’s note: Originally written on March 1st, 2014, this post remained unpublished until May 31st, 2025. This post will continue to evolve as I do. It’s updated to reflect growth, gratitude, and perspective gained since then.
Welcome, gentle souls and thoughtful hearts. Thank you for taking the time to walk with me through memory, meaning, and the quiet lessons shaped by love and loss. Today’s reflections come from attending a neighbor’s memorial service. That afternoon was calm, filled with gentle conversations and tender remembrance. Though it had been some time since we last connected, a familiar warmth settled between us. The kind only years of being neighbors can create. Think of it like a comforting breeze returning.
As we stood together sharing, the air felt fragile, thick with unspoken sorrow and tender respect. We spoke quietly about the days before his passing, how life shifted in an instant. No matter how prepared we think we are, grief crashes in on its own terms. Sometimes sudden, sometimes slow pulling us into waves we can’t always predict or control.
By the time I first wrote this, I had lived just 20 years but already attended eight funerals and eight weddings. That stark contrast between loss and celebration, endings and beginnings, continues to shape how I move through the world. These experiences taught me something simple but profound: life asks us to hold joy and grieve in the same hand.
Whether saying goodbye too soon or celebrating a new chapter, I’ve learned that every gathering leaves something behind with a memory, a lesson, a moment that softens you, or wakes you up. What stays with me now isn’t just about who was lost or what was celebrated, it’s the presence we brought to those moments. The way we showed up for each other. Often, laughter and tears shared the same breath.
I may never fully understand the timing of it all. Why some people leave while others stay, why joy and sorrow so often arrive hand in hand. But I’m learning to meet it all with open eyes and a curious heart.
Every shared meal, every unexpected turn, every “remember when” reminds me that life isn’t meant to be neatly sorted. It’s meant to be felt fully, honestly, and together. So here’s to the moments that find us, the stories that shape us, and the connections that keep drawing us back to one another, again and again.
Life’s beauty lies in its messiness. In the joy and the grief we carry side by side, and the connections that ground us through it all.
If you are walking through a season of loss, be patient with yourself. Grief has its own rhythm. Sometimes the most powerful step you can take is simply to allow yourself to feel and to remember.
As a signature of my blog, I’d like to end this post with a suggestion to “Pass on kindness.” There’s no time like the present to Inspire Those Who Inspire You. Acts of kindness, no matter how big or small, can have a direct, positive impact on someone else. Go out there today and change someone’s life for the better!
***These are my personal opinions and may not be those of my employer.***
