Dear Romeo,

Since you’ve been gone, all I can think about is what you taught me. I am so
grateful to have learned so many life lessons from you. You were my best
friend and almost my lover too. Here is some of your best advice:
● Don’t dress like an elf (even though I still have my elf shoes, I
coordinate them now . . . most days anyway).
● Don’t hang up the phone without saying a proper goodbye and giving
the other person a chance to do the same.
● Don’t dance to music ridiculously; appreciate it.
● Appreciate items genuinely when someone lets you borrow them and
make sure to give them back.
● Be extra patient with the people you love.
● Be thankful and grateful for the little things and smallest of gifts.
● Learn by doing.
● Get sincerely excited when something awesome is happening (like
being at a Flogging Molly concert)
● Love the planet, protect it, and stand up for it, even if you fail.
● Go to the places you have always dreamed of going, and do the things
you have always dreamed of doing.
● Appreciate great music (metal bands like Of Mice and Men, Attila,
beautiful bands like Pretty Lights, and some goofy 80’s and 90’s bands
like New Kids on the Block)
● Always make time for the people you love.
● Be yourself and don’t worry about impressing people.
● Love the quiet spots of home (Beans Bottom, the pump house, etc.)
● Never feel like you have to deal with anything alone. Those who love
you the most will never let that happen.
Your Best Friend,

Dad,

It’s been six years. Six years of living with a pain I knew was inevitable. With the inevitability of it, one could hope to prepare but the magnitude of your presence made that impossible and I knew that too.

For twenty-three years, you were the best dad. As cliché as it may sound, you were. A single parent to a strong willed, sharp tongued little girl, or as most would say, just plain mean, you ensured I had everything I needed, patience, love, and understanding…along with the material things. Looking back, your resourcefulness is astounding. I remember you calling into radio stations, winning tickets to see ballet troupes such as, Les Ballet Africains or concert tickets for groups like the Wailers. You wanted to expose me to as much as possible. I had the privilege of going everywhere with you, including your job. Every day. By the time, I was fourteen, I had traveled to over fifteen states, and none of your colleagues would be surprised to see me at your annual conferences. You put me in tennis and dance classes, and would stay up all night helping me with homework and consistently gave me satirical approaches to biased essay assignments.

While everything you did for me was remarkable, your exceptional character left the indelible mark. Being an educator and organizer, I observed you at many podiums. The well being of people was your priority. It was exhibited in you letting your students borrow your personal laptop so they could complete assignments and in your organization of events attended by thousands fighting against injustices. You were known for closing out conversations, meetings, and speeches by saying ‘Forward!’ The full version being, ‘Forward Forever! Backward Never!’

Growing up, I had an acute awareness that you likely would not live an extensive life due to the work you did and the society we live in. I constantly stressed about how I would live in a world without you. I would remind myself that wasn’t my reality, ‘cross that bridge once we arrive’ and I hoped to never get there, but then you were diagnosed with cancer at stage 4 and after fighting several years, we arrived at that bridge.

I’ll never forget being the one to tell you and I apologize for not delivering the news with the tenderness I know you would’ve if the roles were reversed. Three weeks. That was the prognosis. In the proceeding days, I grabbed a pen and yellow pad, but that wasn’t enough. I opened the voice notes app on my phone and pressed record, prepared to soak up as much knowledge as I could. Most of my questions were met with an “I don’t know.” I was frustrated but I recognized that while you were dying you didn’t have the ability to write the story of how I would live. You never did. You always told me my life was mine. At the end of the day, I had to be happy. “I don’t know” wasn’t the only answer I got that day to my endless list of questions. You also told me to maintain my principles and when asked what I should keep in mind at all times when life got hard and I needed you, you said remember all the happy moments. I didn’t know what to do with that or so I thought.

About a month after you passed, I reached out to the advisor of the academic journal for my graduate program about returning to the editorial board for which I had served as an editor the year prior. I was simply asking if I needed to apply to the position again. It was fun and I was no longer a caregiver so I figured I didn’t have a reason not to. I received an unexpected response; she emailed back letting me know that she would like to discuss me becoming the next co-editor-in-chief. Given my social anxiety, I thought the logical response would be to respectfully decline like I did the undergraduate valedictorian speech where you were quietly disappointed. There was no way I could oversee a board of my peers and be a primary voice in publishing a publication that reflected them along with an academic institution, but I knew to identify the voice that was saying I couldn’t, fear. You always repeated the quote “There’s nothing to fear but fear itself. ” So, despite my fears, I took the position. I asked us to define our objective because everything should be done with a purpose. Most importantly, it should be done together. You taught me that the world should be left a better place than we found it. We should leave something for the next generation to build off. The only way we leave something substantial is by working together so I blurred the lines of editors, managing editors, and co-editors-in-chief ensuring that all decisions were made collectively and objectively. You encouraged and nurtured critical thought. “You need to think at all times.” I remember that coming to me the night before our most important meeting where our shortlist would be finalized and I jokingly thought ‘what interesting ideas would be mentioned to increase readership that weren’t in line with our objective’ so I could prepare. However, I ended up coming up with an idea that did align with our objective, to have a panel at the annual research symposium, which the board was excited to create. A month before we published, I received another unexpected email, I was the co-recipient of one of the department’s annual awards, for making the greatest contribution to the student association and publication. They went on to detail what I mentioned above. My goal in defining our objective, fostering a democratic environment, and developing ideas for growth wasn’t to win an award but lead the creation of a body of work people could be proud of. Not just those actively working on it but those who entered the program after us. That was you.

Three years later, I was seeking a job opportunity where I could grow and develop my skills. I came across a position at a prestigious university. For once in my life, I didn’t overthink it. I applied. During my third interview, walking around the campus, the interviewer asked if I thought I could oversee a student staff of seventy people. Without hesitation, I said “yes.” So much so, he responded, “yes?” and I reaffirmed. In that moment, I honestly shocked myself. Before eventually accepting the position, the largest staff I oversaw was that of about twenty people. I didn’t know how I would do it successfully. How I would make sure they not only succeeded in their responsibilities of the position but I nurtured their talents and skills in preparation of them entering the real world, how I would lead meetings, present to large audiences and stakeholders on their behalf. Nine months into the position, on my birthday, I got a text message, a two-minute video of more than twenty students sending well wishes and saying thank you. Two months later when our seniors graduated, I received messages and cards expressing similar gratitude.

I thought I didn’t know how to live in a world without you, but in continuing to just move forward, one step at a time, I think I do. Thank you.

Love,

Dear Family Friend,

It’s been a while since I last wrote you a thank you note or any letter.

It’s not even ten years since you went to the After Life.

In the beginning, I would never have considered you and your sister becoming our friends of the family since we had nothing in common. But life is full of great surprises.

My brother and I still remember when I put my big life-size plush dog in the coat closet to jump at you when you opened the door. And then you did the payback of putting him in the bathtub behind the shower curtain for me to jump back. Good one!

It was lovely of you to cut your long auburn hair and donate it to make wigs for kids with cancer. I never realized how thick it was. I still treasure my long hair, but intend to donate it one day in your honor.

When having your first grandson, you kept saying “I’m too young to be a grandma!”, as one in her forties. Soon enough, you would not stop talking about him and showing many baby pictures. I almost wanted to poke fun at the fact that you weren’t ready to be a grandma beforehand. I’m so glad now I kept quiet——it was one of your most joyous times, a month before the diagnosis.

I know everyone has habits, and sometimes can’t help it. Yet, this was one of those times that I hated smoking.

Because you loved my handmade items, you asked that I knit you a purple hat with the light yellow cancer ribbon attached. I always knew that I would knit hats for cancer patients. But never thought the first was to be for a friend.

When you had the strength to visit, you proudly displayed the hat I made. Then, you took it off to show your bald head that once held the short thick auburn hair. I knew that the hair was gone. I only stood there, emotionless, mind blank. With your hand on my shoulder, from hazel eyes to brown eyes, you said “It’s going to be alright. I’m fine.”

You needed to say that for yourself than for me at the time. You wanted courage. You never want us to worry or fret.

For months, it looked like you would beat it. In the end, cancer beat the chemo. Only months left. There was nothing to do.

You and your family got to watch over my cat, for the last time, She sure liked you since she was a kitten. I believe she knew you were going away, because she wasn’t energetic, and didn’t want to play for six weeks… as if she were in her way of mourning.

It was a stormy, summer Sunday when you left.

Your memorial service was very colorful. Your “Wizard of Oz” collection is on display, some items for auction (so to take your ashes to New York since you wanted to go there), with cookies and donuts, and many of the firefighters there as friends of yours. And it’s like you are playing the last prank by being late to your funeral! (They forgot to take your ashes to the altar!)

You always admired anything made by me and my brother. You said that if any of us became famous, you would love a personal autograph. Your sister and you were among the few who believed in us. Sometimes, I feel survivor’s guilt since you aren’t here to see our success or published work based on your encouragement and support. It will even be harder in the years to come.

Yet, you never would want me to live a life that isn’t mine. You wouldn’t want me to pity or be easily discouraged, not even let me live the simple life, knowing I wouldn’t be happy to live that way. You would want me to unlock all the creativity from my mind to change the world!

So far, your sister stopped working in the cleaning business and now works alongside children with special needs.

My brother is still in love with filming and has worked on a few fun projects.

You would have loved to meet my husband. He’s very sweet, supportive, and has some jokes and pranks up his sleeve from time to time like the rest of us.

As for me, I’ve been working on my handmade items for a future business, but have my hands full in writing projects. Each one step closer to something more to fulfill the long-time dream.

We all miss, and think of you, often. I know that whatever my life will be, you will shout and cheer me on. I will see you again one day, friend.

Plenty of days
In plenty of ways
I never thought
I had to live without
The woman who birth me
Continuously struggling
With her absence
Trying to put the pieces back together
Rebuilding my life
Without my mom
To witness my success
And the failures
I had to overcome
Without her keen talks
To cheer me up
Makes me feel sad and blue
I yearn for her voice
Her smile
Her laugh
Her presence
That’s why I always tell people
Cherish your mom
‘Cause losing her
You can never get another
Just memories to last forever
Besides my Bae, family and close friends
Being a source of inspiration
My mom is honestly the driving force
Behind my tenacity
She taught me the importance of
Hard work and dedication
She was amazing at everything she did
She got opportunities to live her life
As she saw fit
Much of her is in me
I’m her twin
Many can tell by just looking at me
In life and in death
My mom continues to show me
I can do all that I set out to do
No matter what I’m doing
Or what I’m going through
I take a moment or two
To reflect:
What will mommy do?
What will mommy say?
All the while reminding myself
That she is 1 of the reasons
That I am who I am
I’m forever grateful
For my Granny and Grandpa
God rest their souls
‘Cause without them
There will be no Margot
So I’m forever thankful
For her legacy
Now it’s time to create mines
Mama, I will make you proud‼️

I really miss you.

It didn’t hit me until this year.
Almost 11 years later, just to remind me of how the 11’s, 13th’s and 21’s loved to dance in my head.
Having their own ballet of unfortunate events in my memory bank.
While your memory plays on a loop.
Yet that value always outweighs the sadness.
Holding on to your memories like toes on a tight rope. And as I still walk around cautiously keeping my head on a swivel because you always told me how to aim high.

And here I am…. still looking up hoping that one day you’d say something. Tell me that everything that I have been through is bringing me to this point. That all my worries are just stepping stones. That you are proud.

We don’t get that luxury down here but to know is all we need.
Great is thy faithfulness and to be absent is to be present above. How the way love always carried a tune with you.
You always taught me so much.
Leaving your mark.
I just wish your fragrance lasted longer.

Out of all the things you’ve taught me the urge to not question God never faded. I’ll never know what could come from this grief. While still being curious.
Why did you have to be on the starting pick for the 2013 Draft? Out of all the strongest players but this must be the best seat.
Seeing my accomplishments and growth.
Acknowledging that you are proud in my baby girls smile.
Without creating the space within me I really wouldn’t be in the place I am in.
Walked in rooms that I could only imagine the smell of the paint.
As your memory remains on going. Know that everything is still in remembrance of you.
And I may didn’t live up to my end because life just has its own way.

I miss you. Sorry that it took me so long to add ink to it.

Lourdes Islas Martinez, I didn’t know you.
I never thought I looked like you.
But I think of you almost every day.

When I was little, I thought of you when I looked down at my thumbs.
“Those skip a generation,” Mom said. “My mother had thumbs like that!”

Is it weird to say I feel connected to you by toe thumbs?

As I approached forty (and Mom had made it to sixty-seven) I wondered if what had taken you early from your family would take me early from mine. Does cancer skip a generation too?

When I lost my pregnancy and someone said something ugly, I cried and cried and cried.
I stopped taking your great-grandbabies on field trips.
On Sundays, I hid between the pews.

Do you remember how your memory snapped me out of my misery when I had a panic attack too?

It was Mom’s memory of you and Aunt Lizzy and the watermelon seeds.
It made me think of something else.
It was another weird connection (kind of like toe thumbs).

‘Cucaracha! Cucaracha!!! CUCARACHA!!!!’
Mom ran into the kitchen screaming while you were on the phone!

You ran into the bathroom, screaming at those little black ovals.
They were floating, creeping, SNEAKING toward Lizzy’s chubby legs.
Mom laughed and teased, “Those are just my watermelon seeds!”

You were too kind to punish her.
You just said, “Wait until your father gets home.”

Do you know Mom ends every story of you the same way?

My mother was the kindest person.
I wish you could have known her.
You are just like her.
You would have loved her.
She was very social.

That day I cried until my heart was in my throat,
I was thinking of you, Mom, and Aunt Lizzy and the watermelon seeds.
I was picturing you in heaven pain free.
Were you whispering to me?
Or was it God with a divine Dad joke?
I don’t know, but this was the thought that came:

Dead people don’t gossip—they have better things to do.
Don’t you?

That snapped me up and made me laugh.
It was true.

I couldn’t picture you fretting over church gossip.
In the presence of God and everything holy and good.

Though I hadn’t been the one spreading it,
I’d been repeating it.
I’d been saying it in my mind and thinking things no one should.

That answer gave me peace that day, but it didn’t stop compulsive thoughts I tried not to think or “bad” feelings I tried not to feel.

If someone at church was unkind.
Or angry.
Or disappointed.
Or they gossiped about me.
It got me every time.

When that happened, I didn’t think of things said and done when I was young to try and make me conform or “believe.”
I just physically felt the same things as if I was again fifteen.

It would be years before other answers came.
Such as not allowing others to mistreat me or my family (even at church).

But that answer that day, thinking of you, turned my thoughts toward God.
It put me in His (and your) light.

The anticipation of a conversation
a moment’s pause, a heart’s sensation
An expectation of words unsaid
A binding connection, a delicate thread

The fabric was woven, the story was told
a legacy kept, forever to hold
A journey of words, a longing to know became a tapestry rich, a narrative to grow

The art of conversation, a gentle guide
leading me through the labyrinth of time
To listen to memories, a heart’s treasure a mind’s archive, a soul’s measure

All that you were and the joy you spread became part of me, of who I am
Reflections of my younger days your voice, your presence, your beautiful face

Our memories, an album of distant times
keeps the joy of better days alive
Reluctant to embark on unknown paths
comfort comes from waves of our past

Your existence upon which I became
was a guide, a light, so much more than name
The courage you showed throughout your life
echoes deep within the depths of my mind

In that stillness, I found my voice
A sense of clarity, a heartfelt choice
The silence beckoned, I found my way
to a place of peace, where love will stay

I’m driving through Kansas City one summer afternoon and realize that I’m the closest I’ve been to the house you lived in since you died. It’s one of the first times I’ve driven myself from my hometown an hour away. When you were still here, I was too intimidated by the congested freeways I’d need to take to venture too far away from home on my own. Now I dream each day of driving across the whole country, seeing new visions of wildflower fields, mountains that paint the sky, and a secluded nightscape where my view of the stars wouldn’t be muddled by street lights. But right now memory and melancholy strike my mind as I pull into a grocery store parking lot to buy a quick dinner at the deli counter. The grief I felt over your loss never culminated into any melodramatic scenes of emotional upheaval that would win awards and praise if it were in a film. Those feelings usually come to me in small, mundane, reminders of you that make me tear up in crowded store aisles where I’m trying to focus on finding what I need quickly and not bumping into grocery carts. When I get in my car, I allow myself to cry-really, truly cry-and I have to pull over after my sunscreen drips into my eyes and makes them sting mercilessly. When I take a break to eat the sandwich I picked out, it’s so bland I think I might be coming down with something and losing my sense of taste.
It’s been nearly three and a half years now since you died in the hospital on my 22nd birthday. We were supposed to go out to my favorite Thai restaurant for a celebration dinner, but after we found out you were gone, nothing sounded good anymore and we ate boxed macaroni in front of the television. I never got to see you when you were in the hospital, and I wish I could have had the closure of a visit and a “goodbye.” Earlier that day, I’d discovered that I’d been the only person in my history class to achieve a perfect score on an exam, and I told my mother who then told you when she visited. I wish I could’ve spoken with you one more time, and it feels so oddly humbling to know I was in somebody’s thoughts and memories on their last days on earth. It reminds me of both my cosmic insignificance in the grand scheme of the world and also of the monumental importance of those close to you who few others will ever know of. You were the kind of individual who was always curious about the world around us and aiming to gain more knowledge, which is something I always try to emulate. You were also endlessly kind to everybody who knew you, and I could see this in the group of friends you kept throughout your life up until the very end. One of my first memories is of visiting you and sitting in a booth of the restaurant where you and your friends would have coffee and breakfast each morning. I eavesdropped into your conversations while I tore apart a cherry pastry with my fingers. I couldn’t make sense of what exactly everybody was talking about, but I felt sure that I wanted to be like you when I got older. Sometimes I see you in other groups of people I see in cafes or restaurants who are chatting amiably and seem to be having the most wonderful time. Today I am twenty-five years old and spend many of my days alone, and I hope that someday my wish from over twenty years ago comes true.
I wish that we could really talk about how my world looks today; I would trust any advice you have for me. A part of me worries that my younger self was too unappreciative and self-absorbed to truly know what I would be missing out on today in your absence. Your death taught me to always be mindful of how fragile human life can be and that I must never take others for granted. Memories of the past always haunt my mind when I am wondering what awaits in the lives of my loved ones and how much time we have together. I went on a vacation with my aunt and my mother where we spoke about you, and my aunt told me how much you loved me. I told her that I wished you knew that I loved you just as much, and she assured me that you did. A sense of relief washed over me then, and I hope that she was right and you knew how much you meant to us.

Dear Mr. Bruno Mars Murphy

Many won’t understand how much your death impacted our family.
“He was a bunny?” a commonly asked question.

I’ve never disclosed with anyone the vulnerable moment where you were there as we broke the news of the divorce to my son. You became emotional in his arms letting me know you could feel the pain in the atmosphere.

You watched us struggle through the transition. It was so bittersweet that right before it became final and on Father’s Day
You were gone.

I think you’d be proud of us. You saw all of us at our worst moments. This is why I remember you fondly, you loved us anyway.

By the way , I am still working on that book that you gave me inspiration for in January 2021.

Your memory keeps me motivated to finish what I started and keep the vision with a strong why.

Thank you Bruno for being apart of our family.

I’m so glad you fought your way to Leo at the rabbit farm. LOL. Always a fighter.

Love always!
Jasmine

“Go Ahead!” “Take Your Time.” Life Is An Ongoing Process”,
From One’s Life To One’s Deaths, We All Struggle For Existence,
It’s The Time Between The Two That One’s Great Wisdom Is Missed,
Now Where do I Even Start From this long, successful list?

A Rising Student at Cathedrals,
A Regentonian with Great Grammar,
A Traveler Past Lagos Canals,
To A Bay Fourah away-planner,
A man that favors morals, ethics and logistics,
And motion, momentum, Work done in Applied Physics.

A Father To Many And Grandfather To Many More,
Some Of Us May Openly Grieve While Others Have In Store,
The Sight From The Juba House Window Darkens As Far As Can See,
Will Miss The Stories At The Table Of Brer Fox And Anansi.
The Balls Played In The Compound Near The Toyota and Mercedes,
Will Miss Your Baritone Laugh Accompanied With Star or Baileys.

I Recall Your Tuning To The Radio,
BBC Or 98.6 Ratio,
To Pick Out Rhetoric In The Daily News,
Is a Skill I Wish To Master In The Views,
“If You Can’t Make A Friend, Do Not Make An Enemy,”
Your Words I Find Difficult To Follow Mentally,
Perhaps It Is The Plight Of The Young Man Within Me,
The Angst, The Confusion And All Things Lemony,
Your Last Advice Was That My Chance Would Come Soon,
And When It Comes, I Must Rise Up And Not Gloom,
I Know That I Can’t List All Of Your Success And The Steps,
But Like You Used To Say “Life Is An Ongoing Process.”

Dear God,

It’s internally overwhelming dealing with death. It’s like going out to dinner with 7 people at a table. You’re all aughing, smiling, enjoying that meal because it’s filled with love and it’s seasoned well. Your meal is over and it’s time to go back home, but then one of you don’t get back in the car. Your family is in the car and you watch the other family member stand outside the car. You wave to them and you become sad. It’s now 6 of you in the car driving back home in silence and confusion. You have to put that key in the door, open it and go up to that room where that person is no longer coming home to get in that bed. “Is this real?”

Reality hits and now you are sad. You’re crying, hyperventilating, and your brain is racing. You ask yourself “What just happened?” “Wait, wait, did I just leave my loved one at the restaurant and watch them walk off into the fog? “Maybe, I was dreaming?” You realized that you’re not. “Are they ever coming back?” “Who told tthem to go off into the fog like that?” You grab your phone to call them and hope they will pick up. RING…. RING….RING.. RING…

You hear something, as if someone picked up… “You have reached the voicemail of Pablo Joshua, please leave a message after the tone” “Dad, dad, are you there?” …BEEEEP…….. “Dad, please pick up, it’s me, Janet”. “Dad, can you hear me?” Then……Cancer, he answers. “No, your father is not here anymore, but you can speak to him at anytime”……silence…… more silence… more hyperventilating…..more heartache.. tears fall profusively…

“Hello, cancer, you really took him? Cancer, you son of a bitch! “

You really took him away from me, away from all of us??”…Who invited you into our lives?”.

You grab your chest because you can’t breathe. You even think, “maybe I should go back to that restaurant and join him in the fog”.

No, you can’t do that!

Its’s morning. I hear calypso music playing. The sun is up. I just don’t smell Johnny Cakes. I wish I did.

My dad is in my house and I see him everyday. I hear his voice, his fingers snapping, and his feet tapping to Hall & Oates.

(Music playing…lyrics are in tune)….
“You’re a rich girl, and you’ve gone too far
cause you know it don’t matter anyway…
You can rely on the old man’s money..
You can rely on the old man’s money..”

I walk down my steps and I see him. I smile. “Look at him, having a ball”, feeling the music in his soul. His eyes are closed and he is smiling. I see it. Look, at him. It’s my youngest son. His face is just like his. His soul is just like his. It’s beautiful to see. He’s my fathers twin.

I go down another flight of stairs and look at my dad, laughing and talking on the phone. Its my dads laugh so distinctively. It’s my oldest son. He’s my dads other twin.

I’m out at a restaurant and it’s music playing. I hear my dad speaking and playing his favorite tunes. I stop short, look up and smile. It’s him. There he is, being an amazing DJ that he loves to be. The voice on the mic and that’s Pablo’s voice. It’s, my brothers voice. He is such a great DJ, just like my dad. He makes his sets and send them out to people so they can enjoy and feel the love for music just like he taught us.

Wait! Just wait a minute, look at my dad out there on the dance floor. He loves two stepping to the music. I hear Anita Baker, Kenny G, and calypso king, Arrow. You can tell he feels the music with every step he takes. It’s My little brother and he is out dancing and smiling on the dance floor, just like my dad.

I hear sports playing, it’s loud. I use to wish he would turn that down. I hear the commentary. He’s watching sports. and now he’s broadcasting live from the station. Who would have thought that Dad? I know you are so proud of your baby boy. My youngest brother is the sportscaster. He is my dads other twin.

I see and hear my dad all the time. I’m blessed. I’m grateful. He lives in me everyday, he lives in my sons and my brothers.

God, my father taught me all about music.
He lived and breathed music. All genres!

What more could I ask for? God, his spirit is never leaving my house. You were right. I want to thank you God. I want to thank you for taking my dad and putting his soul at peace. As much as I said, I wish he was here for this or that… he is., and he multiplied.

Thank you!
Love Tiny!

P.S., please let my dad know, that I miss him and his legacy of music and sports will live on forever.

Wait, I can just tell him myself.
Good night!

Rest in peace to my dad, Pablo E Joshua 1/25/48 to 4/16/18

Today marks another day since you’ve been gone.
There is no significance to this day. It is not our anniversary or your birthday. It is not some mile marker in the countdown since your death.
Today is just a day.
But some days the weight of grief is as heavy as the mid-September air was on those days as you were leaving us. So long and yet so fast. In those days and the days that followed, time stood still and the world spun out of control all at the same time in a way I didn’t know was possible. To be honest, I’m not sure it has stopped.
In your absence I have learned that grief is a stealth warrior and some days it wins before I even know the battle has begun.

I wonder if you watch from wherever you are.
Sometimes I wonder if you’re anywhere.
And I try to find some semblance of you everywhere.
I look back at old pictures and old posts and I wonder how we would have felt if we had known what was coming. I wonder if we would have appreciated those moments more, or if we would have been too wrapped up in worrying about the ending.
I wonder what you’d think about all that has happened since you’ve been gone. I wonder if you feel the joy and the pain. How would you feel about all of the shifts and changes, the twists and turns, the bumps and the bruises that we’ve endured along the way? Would you shake your head at the mistakes and missteps we’ve made as we’ve tried to move in some manner that resembles moving forward. Or does your vantage point now give you some insight into how all the pieces will fall together?
I wonder if you would be happy that life has gone on.
In your absence I have learned that there are infinite questions and inadequate answers.
And I am learning to accept that.

I took the kids to Disney last year.
I conquered my fear of flying (sort of) and flew all the way to California. The ocean is absolutely beautiful!
I got a passport. I promise I’m going to use it!
I spent a little too much on new furniture for the deck. And a lot too much on a new purse for me.
I’ve settled into my new job. You were right. I’m doing great at it.
I’m really sorry about how I’ve let the yard go. I’m trying, but you know that was always your thing.
I try to get the kayaks out as much as I can. I find so much peace in the beauty of nature. And of course, I think of you whenever I catch a glimpse of a sunset.
I appreciate my family and friends in ways I never did before.
I’ve made new friends and reconnected with some old ones.
I’ve fallen in love again.
In your absence I have learned that there is truth in cliché phrases like “life is short” and “you only live once” and “tomorrow is not promised.”

I have learned so much in your absence. Yet no matter how much I learn, there will always be one thing that I will never understand…
Why.

You were always on my side
You were my joy; I was your pride
In this cruel world, just us vs. them,
But all good things come to an end
Now I’m left here all alone
With that final goodbye,
My life shattered in the blink of an eye
Lost like an orphaned fawn,
How can I ever carry on
Without the only friend I’ve ever known?

Let the wires cross
Let the signal be lost
My thoughts erratic,
Lost in the radio static
Now that you’re not there
Make no mistake
There’s no return from this break
No time to dwell on loss,
Here’s my heart signing off,
Fading into dead air

So I’ll reset that emotional dial
And face it all with a smile,
Let this world strike me down
I’ll never show them a frown
As I try to live by your advice
With the tools you gave in hand,
Here and now I make my stand
Forgive me for not growing strong
Enough in time to right your wrongs
But it will not happen twice!

Let them know our pain
Let the chaos rain
From the heavens above
As they say, in war and love
Everything is fair
If I must cross this line
I’ll stand up for what’s mine
Now there’s no turning back
As the scene cuts to black,
Fading into dead air

Dear Unsealers,

Below you will find an attempt at wording the way grief slowed my heart in 2022. Two of my male cousins (sons of each of my mother’s sisters) passed 65 days apart from one another. Their spirits continue to inspire me to rise above and push forward with every day. I outlived both of them this year. Raw emotion has been the extent of coherent writing I could come up with. The rest has only been able to formulate through dreaming. Thank you for reading:

Where do I begin?
I’ve laughed a lot of it to the side; I’ve become hallowed to some of it, and the rest just lies right underneath the surface.
 
Underneath my tired, malfunctioning, fragile brain, I begin wrapping up my thoughts, since I just almost doze off because that’s what happens when I get deep, introspective, or reflective; my psyche overthinks and overheats, then shuts down. I’ve been wanting to write a poem, but this happens. It’s like ever since my cousin died, writer’s block has clogged my ability to speak, let alone breathe. It’s like I’m losing a game of being choked out, and sometimes I don’t want to tap out ‘cause the bruises never fade [cuz… the bruises never fade].
 
Instead, I’m back in the simulation of quote-unquote reality, facing this day-to-day, stumbling all throughout, like, “What can i-i-i help you with today?”
…
Maybe all my poems start with questions… or they have to be written when I’m pressed against the wall, so my thoughts just get to spilling, and when I’m asked how I’m feeling, really all I want to do is (exhale), because it makes me feel so small to carry on with all this damage.
 
 
I’m revisiting this poem for the third time ‘cause the last time I tried to get through it, another one of my cousins died, and his name is M, and I rep them boys proudly. It’s V and M ‘til the day I see cloudy.
 
I’m still not understanding how one day we can be standing together, and the next I’m faceplantin’ talking memories we were planning to the graves they’ve been planted in. *umh* Where do I go from here?
…
I’m even further away from writing my first love poem. Well, in this state, loss love underlies sadness, and in moments coupled with lack thereof, it can feel like a heart of attacks. The type that boils over, no explosion.
 
You know they say, “You don’t really start living until you’re 25,” and when I think of my heavenly halves, I’d argue that saying is a living lie.

You are the run-on sentence
English has taught me not to use.
The Punctuation with red lines of knowledge
as I fail to convey thoughts of expression.
And yet, I recall the Afro-Fusion in your tone,
the fineness in your smile exiled from Black Culture.
The admiration of the necessary things, like catching
each syllable like butterflies in my stomach, when you
reach a unique journey that shifts you into my favorite Icon.

Even now your observations are penned to memory,
ultimately growing to term like my daughter
being born from the love you gave me.
Each lesson is a precise section that supports
and conclude your life’s purpose.

Your thoughts live on through every misspelled
word in my chapter of being as you watch over me, circling
and underlining my faults. Somehow still levitating your
suggestions in marginal explanations of my highest lows and
my deepest concerns of my soul.

You are the warmest period I’ve seen
in the English language. Always about the rules
of storytelling and yet basically used your criteria
for this kind of short story. Your creativity is the reason my
masterpiece for poetry is written like a master manuscript.
Every detailed piece included reading within a hero’s
pilgrimage. This is the message you gave how to approach
my failures and yet never give up on my story.

Grandma,
Last time we drove to the Tri-Cities in Washington for a family reunion, I still cried because I miss you! We all had a lovely time together- all your three kids, and eight grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren. For thirty-five years of my life, you and Grandpa were always there. You are like a missing puzzle piece now. The picture will never be the same again, and nothing can make it better. We decided to drive by your old house in the mobile home park. I have such fond memories of all us cousins squished together in that little living room. I remember your chocolate pies, and your hand breaded chicken strips, and your cheesy corn flake potatoes. We would play the game of Life at your tiny kitchen table, or take turns trying out the exercise bike in your bedroom, or play jump rope in the yard. I remember your big snack cupboard, and how you would give zip lock bags to us and let us fill them up with Cheeseballs and Licorice, and fruit snacks. I remember that you and Grandpa always loved Raisin Bran cereal and you always had an extra container full of raisins in your cupboard so we could load up our bowls with extra raisins after pouring our cereal. You had such a beautiful rose garden at your house. How you loved your flowers! When we drove by recently, there was no garden left at all. It clearly was not your house anymore.
The last time I saw you alive, you were living in an adult foster care home. Grandpa was there too, struggling with Alzheimer’s. I remember you showed us your room in the front of the house, with a big picture window. You said the cook told you that you could still do baking, and you still enjoyed making pies sometimes. You had all our pictures up on one of your walls- chubby, smiling great grand-babies, wedding photos of your grand-daughters, family portraits of your sons and daughters with their children. I was glad to see your room and to picture where you lived, but it was hard to see you somewhere other than your house. We said we loved each other and hugged like always, my eyes heavy with tears. We didn’t want to leave yet, but we had to because we had a six-hour drive to get back home a state away with our two young children.
The next time we visited that care home, you had already passed away very unexpectedly. I kept thinking perhaps I was just imagining that you had died as I glanced in your room and saw your hairbrush on the dresser. I felt like I might be floating around in some kind of dream, like I was just watching myself. We all went down the hall to see Grandpa, who was barely hanging on. By the end of the weekend, we had a joint funeral for both of you. My uncle shared that he felt some relief Grandpa went too shortly after you because he couldn’t bear the thought of Grandpa starting to forget you too- his beloved wife of 60 years! The weight of this loss hung on me like a heavy garment. I wanted to get out from under it, yet I needed it. If I let go of the sadness, would I let go of you? I was mad at everyone for even being able to smile. I never really got to say goodbye to you, Grandma!
What would I have said to you if I knew you were dying? I would have said thank you for your open arms and open heart to me. Thank you for the hand embroidered kitchen towels. Thank you for the little purple rocking chair you sent over for my baby girl. Thank you for the way you worshipped God and taught me the hymns. Thank you for the big family Christmas dinners, the summer evenings by the lake at family camp. Thank you for listening with excitement when I called you about my fiancé. Thank you for how you welcomed him into the family as if you had always known him. Thank you for making the long trip over to my baby shower. Thank you for your sweet words to my preschooler when she showed you her ballerina twirls over and over again. Thank you for the anniversary and birthday cards year after year. I have these in a box with your careful cursive handwriting telling us how much you love us, how much you pray for us. I need you to know that I love you and that I will never forget you! I will share you and Grandpa with my children and you will always live on in my life!

Love, Jo

Lil Bro,

I constantly think of you and apologize. I don’t feel liable; I just don’t know how to accept my lack of knowledge. ‘I’m sorry,’ my heart whispers, ‘because I never realized there would be a day when you weren’t here.’

Your birthday passed last month. Someone signed their name on a document at work and scribbled your birthday on the next line, just a date in June. But I heard your childhood voice in my head repeating the date with pride. It was your very own special day. I could hear the way you stress the long ‘u’ sound in our AAE dialect from home. The memory shattered any composure I had left.

My sobs were silent but insuppressible. I sat at my desk as tears rushed over my face. I didn’t want attention, but I’m sure my manager noticed me wiping my eyes continuously.

I always thought I would share this time with you, optimistically wrestling to become the adults we always wanted to be. I thought we would gossip and laugh over the years. I thought we would grow and learn from each other. I was an adult when you left, but losing you makes me feel as feeble and naive as a child. I never understood that your illness could be fatal. I never thought the procedure could be dangerous. I never imagined my life without knowing you. But here we are, and all three of those things are unrelentingly real. ‘I miss you. I’ve needed you all this time.’

As I looked at the document, it was unbelievable to me that you would have turned 29 years old that day. It had been seven years without you, and a part of me loathed that so much time had passed. It reminded me of all the changes since you’ve gone. How can so much have changed when it feels like just yesterday that you were here?

How do I forgive myself for my oblivious nescience all our lives? Why didn’t I realize the depth of your suffering? Why couldn’t you make it clearer to me? Why didn’t I have the words or the vocabulary to verbalize your experience? Why didn’t my mother explain what was going on with my brother? Why couldn’t I fully sympathize? ‘I’m sorry,’ my soul screams.

There’s a young guy who works with me at my job. He’s not a lot like you, but in ways, he reminds me of you and Bee when we were kids. He doesn’t always understand me when I mumble in our dialect, but we use AAE and it feels like home.

He’s not bothersome like you were toward me, but I know you annoyed me because I was your big sister. I was yours, and my attention belonged to you. He would also never be as insulting as you. In the moment your insults are insufferable, but now it’s something I miss the most. You would always come to our defense if anyone ever put us down. He’s not moody like you used to be from time to time. You and I share a certain level of disdain for obnoxious social interactions. But now I wonder if some of your moods were because of your pain…

Of course, my coworker is not you, but he makes me think of you every day. He listens to the music you’d like to hear, and he likes some clothes you’d probably wear.

He also looks at me the way you and Bee do when I do something cool, like the smartest big sister in the world.

I’m the nerdy one, the studious sister. I’m blind sometimes to the things you’re engrossed in. But you and Bee look up to me. You’re proud of me for getting good grades and graduating college. You’re proud of me for traveling the world and learning new languages. You’d probably commend me today if you saw the program I built in Excel for work using complex formulas and macro automation. My coworker loves it.

I wish you were here to see it too, to visit me and see the city, to listen to my goals and dreams. And I would encourage you in yours.

But even if you’re not here, I will live with all my heart like you are. I won’t only be the sister you needed, but I will be a sister to anyone who needs it.

We were together from the beginning, and you always believed in me. You were my first fan. You never judged me or wanted me to change. You always welcomed me with a hug and a smile. To anyone in my life, I will encourage, support, and strengthen them like a true sister should. Thank you for being my childhood little brother.

Dear Niece,

A mother’s gain, an aunt’s loss is what I experienced having you in my life and losing you. You became my third but oldest child. Having you in my household was so fulfilling to my soul. To see you smile and the gloom and fear in your eyes disappear was everything. I could feel the burden of your spirit lift off you, as I consumed it and carried it. I wanted to fulfill your desires to live with me permanently but I had been denied the opportunity. The sadness and depression I had when taking you home after the summer you spent with me, had not even scratched the surface of the pain I felt, losing you forever. Your passing taught me how to call on Jesus and TRUST in GOD when I have nothing left inside of me to grasp, to survive. To stay sane, I have accredited so many things to you in your passing as positive changes in my life.

Your organ donations impacted the lives of 6 people; which inspired me to make a difference in this world. Your one body gave way to 6 lives, to live and not die, to be able to be healthy or healed. You leaving at the tender age of 14 taught me TO LIVE NOW, because life had ended for you before it even truly began. So, two months after your passing I officially moved to the Coast. It was a profound moment because I had told you on our visit here, that I would bring you with me if I ever moved. Well baby I didn’t get to bring you physically but I have you in my heart, I have your school artwork hung up in my home, and the flower I was given at your funeral is still living, that gives me joy.

I wonder where you’d be and what you’d be doing, often I answer, “She would be doing EVERYTHING!” that inspires me to continue to keep pushing, keep fulfilling my dreams, take in the moment, and never take life for granted; never think there is always time because the loss of you taught me time is truly of the essence. I can feel your presence at times and I pray that you are proud that I chose to give it to God, the anger, the hurt, the guilt, the grief, and all that surrounded taking that loss not from the natural but by the hands of a 15-year-old. Life hadn’t prepared me beforehand but yet on the spot to FORGIVE QUICKLY! Hatred can destroy the good in people and I knew the good in you would have prevailed. It was too painful to process a child I love, taking the life of a child I love but that taught me how to GIVE IT TO GOD, vengeance is not mine. Love conquers a multitude of things and the love you gave me, I shared it in the moments that needed mending.

Even in loving your mom through it all and until the end, I discovered the true meaning of God’s grace and mercy and how sufficient it truly is. So thank you my sweet niece for teaching me about life within your short life. Your memories and everything I can imagine you would have become, I will become because you were simply amazing. Your mom told me after you passed, that you once told her, “She’s not my cousin, my aunt but MY MOM” and that if she would take your clothes to my house and place them on the porch, I’d know you were coming home. I wish that could be so but God needed you back. But, no matter the distance, from Earth to the highest Heaven, your spirit will always be home within my soul.