This Is Where It Ends

by Marieke Nijkamp

So we run. Not just in circles around the track. We run toward all that is waiting for us. We run together while we still can.

“Grief is one big, gaping hole, isn’t it?” I say quietly. I don’t even know if he hears me, but my words are as much for myself as for him. “It’s everywhere and all consuming. Some days you think you can’t go on because the only thing waiting for you is more despair. Some days you don’t want to go on because it’s easier to give up than to get hurt again.”

Relief and sorrow follow each other rapidly, because with the names of those who live comes the void of those who have not. Death brings life; life brings death.

how the sun can cut through the darkness but will cast shadows everywhere.

You can’t always keep your loved ones with you. You can’t always settle your life in one place. The world was made to change. But as long as you cherish the memories and make new ones along on the way, no matter where you are, you’ll always be at home.”