Violet nodded faintly.
“And you cannot make her responsible for keeping Mark alive for you.”
Her face twisted.
“I don’t know who I am without him.”
My anger softened.
“Neither do I.”
I looked down at Cecelia.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
Then I looked back at Violet.
“But she doesn’t need us to have everything figured out yet.”
Part 7: Learning to Miss Him Without Losing Ourselves
Six months passed.
Nothing magically returned to normal.
Violet and I did not suddenly become the women we had been before Mark died.
But something between us began to heal.
Slowly.
Imperfectly.
Honestly.
She started asking before coming over.
She asked before picking Cecelia up.
She stopped searching for excuses when grief overwhelmed her.
When she missed Mark, she simply said, “I miss him.”
And I learned that sometimes the healthiest thing I could say in return was, “I do too.”
