Finding hope in Loss

I lost my cousin recently, someone who knew me completely, flaws and all, and loved me unconditionally. She passed just before Christmas, and while I miss her deeply, her absence has shifted something in me.

I’ve started noticing life in ways I hadn’t before. Every small moment feels sharper, more vivid. The man impatiently waiting for the light to change, the kid laughing at something on their phone, the elderly couple holding hands as they cross the street—I see these little slices of humanity everywhere now.

It’s humbling to realize how fleeting it all is. Our lives are just blinks in the vastness of time. Yet, we’re here, caught up in the now, in our routines, our worries, our joys.