Sometimes, there are mountains that show up on the road ahead that seem insurmountable; too steep to climb, too painful to endure. We think there’s no way around them and wonder how we’ll ever make it to the other side, and maybe sometimes, we wonder if we should even keep moving at all.
For me, that “mountain” was losing my mom. The brightest light in my life and my best friend. I got to bask in the glow of the light she so effortlessly radiated, and for a long time, I didn’t even know the magnitude of its impact because I’d never had to experience the dark.
If you’ve been reading this blog, you know how the story goes. You know the light didn’t last forever and eventually, after slowly dimming a day at a time, it burned out.
Without that light to illuminate the way, that mountain that was suddenly right in front of me became even more of a hurdle.
I’m writing this to thank everyone who has shown up in my life with a source of light; be it a flashlight, a lighter, a candle, a sparkler, a glow stick, a string of Christmas lights, a dead lightning bug smashed onto a sidewalk on a warm summer night, a lightbulb in a fixture that I don’t know how to change, or anything else that’s helped me along the way. I spend a lot of time reminiscing about my parents and trying to keep their memory alive. But I know I am not alone, and I am thankful to be reminded of that every day.
I hope all the people who have played a part in helping me climb that mountain every day recognize your significance and contribution in my life. One of my favorites told me the other day that they don’t know how to be my friend through all of this because they have both of their parents. I hope you all know, whether you can relate on a more personal level or not, how much I appreciate you for loving me through this and just for sitting with me and being present with me as I continue to navigate this world with the memory of my parents’ light tucked safely in my mind and heart.
Whether you are still in my life now or we’ve gone our separate ways, I will always be so thankful for the people who didn’t let me stumble and fall off this mountain.
