Love.
That’s all I really remember when I think of her.
Her arms wrapped tightly around me,
Her charming southern accent,
And the way she looked at everyone with love in her heart.

I always thought she’d be with me forever,
To hug me after my graduation,
To look on proudly at my wedding.

But that wasn’t the case

They told us, she was fine.
They ignored her when we screamed that she couldn’t breathe.
They took my grandmother away from me.

In the weeks after her death, I was numb.
Cold.
A hollow shell of who I used to be.

But when I saw the broken spirits of the ones I loved, I knew something had to change.
I had to be there for my mother,
Be there for my cousins,
And be there for myself.

Grief isn’t linear,
You don’t just keep getting better.
Some days you’ll feel fine
And others you’ll feel like the world is crumbling
breaking
shattering.
But you’re the only one who can feel it.

But I knew that I had to grow up quickly
I had to live like her.
Live with Love.