10/17/2026
To all the versions of me I became because I loved them
There was a version of me who became a mother to a child who was never meant to stay forever. I loved him anyway. And losing him taught me that sometimes you can lose someone who is still alive, but no longer yours to hold.
There was a version of me who was a wife. I had a husband beside me, someone to share the ordinary parts of life with. Then I became the woman who had to learn how to live in a world where he wasn’t coming home.
And now there is Simone.
My girl. My German Shepherd. My soul mate.
She is still here, and somehow that makes this grief even harder. I can still hold her, kiss her, look into her eyes and tell her I love her. But cancer has put an expiration date on the love I desperately wish could last forever.
So I am grieving her while she is still here.
I am memorizing her while I still can.
Maybe grief isn’t just about losing someone. Maybe it’s carrying the proof that they mattered.
I have loved deeply. I have lost deeply. And somehow, I am still here, still capable of loving this deeply.
So for now, I will hold Simone a little longer.
Because she was never just a dog.
She is one of the great loves of my life. ❤️
