Slowly at first.
Pulled forward by the obligations
of a life that didn't pause
to ask if I was ready.
Days became weeks.
Weeks became something
I stopped counting
because counting felt like betrayal.
But I kept moving.
Carried you into every step.
Into every new room.
Into every version of the life
still being written.
And here I am.
Further from you in time.
Closer to you in understanding.
Knowing exactly what I had. Exactly
what it cost. Exactly what it was worth.