A love letter...

It's been a rough few days for me lately. I spent my Thursday working in a area with no cell service. Cut off from the outside world. The work was still fun but anything outside of work was unable to reach me. I get home Thursday evening and find out that one of my cousins passed from cancer. She was suffering from a stage 4 cancer so it was tough on her. She was around my dads age and they were really close so I took it kind of rough. My dad and I didn't get along for a long time but before he passed we began to bond and grow. I miss him. My eyes water with just the thought of him being gone and it's been so long. I'm struggling with the words to say to her son who is also my cousin. What do you say to a man that just lost his mother? A woman that has cared, provided, and disciplined you your entire life. How do you tell someone that the lady that loves you like no one else EVER will or can is no longer here but in a better place? I know he's sick of hearing it. I know he feels that the best place for her is here with him. I hurt so deeply for a man that I barely knew. To lose your first love is something I can't fit onto paper. But I shed tears for her....And I shed tears for him. And I try my best to stay away from cliché thoughts when it comes to my writings but this one I understand. This is how my heart feels. "Just because someone that truly loved you is gone doesn't mean that love is no longer with you."  -Me. The smiles you receive from friends and family are remnants of her love. The joy you feel when you think about the love she's given you will always bring you joy. That smile you can't hide when you remember the sacrifices that she would only make for you are testaments of her love. Shed tears for her. Cry to show her the pain you feel not being able to see her, touch her, hold her. But don't you dare forget to rejoice in the love she's left in you. It will never go away and that part of her will forever live on. You have to understand that the way you will love your children, and the way your children will love their children, will be because of the way she loved you...