I Swear You Will Be Fine

Dear Josh,

In the previous letter, I wanted to share a rendition of the “Grief Is Like Glitter” poem. Instead, I shared my unfiltered thoughts and ended up writing so much that this letter needed a part two. Well, here’s the poem:

On a quiet little day,
Sadie’s mum said goodbye,
With a WHOOSH and a WHIRL,
Glitter filled the sky.
It fell through the living room,
floated through the air,
Got stuck in the sofa,
In her hands, her hair!
It sparkled on picture frames,
Sprinkled the cat,
It covered the carpet
And welcome-home mat.
“Oh dear!” cried Sadie.
“What happened? Where’d she go?”
But only the glitter
Kept twinkling below.
So Sadie got sweeping,
And wiping, and scrubbing,
With buckets and brushes,
And huffing and rubbing,
She cleaned in the daytime,
She cleaned late at night,
‘Til her arms felt as floppy,
As a wet noodle might!
But the glitter was sneaky,
The glitter didn’t care.
The glitter kept whispering,
“I’m everywhere.”
It took months upon months,
For the glitter to go,
“At last,” Sadie sighed…
At least she thought so.
For one year on,
While in a crouch,
She spotted a sparkle,
Right behind the couch.
It winked in the sunlight-
A bright little fleck.
“Well HOW did you get there?”
Sadie said.
“What the heck?”
Then weeks later still,
In the pocket of jeans,
Another piece twinkled
Where mum used to keep things.
And glitter kept showing in strange places too
In bookcases, vases,
And inside her shoe.
“I’m late for school!”
Sadie groaned with a pout.
While hopping on one foot
And shaking it out.
Then one rainy morning,
While digging through clothes…
A stubborn bright sparkle
Stared back from the folds.
Sadie felt angry.
A hot sort of ache.
“Why can’t you be gone now?!”
Her small voice began to shake.
The glitter said nothing.
Just twinkled a bit.
So Sadie sat down
And stared back at it.
Then she picked it up softly.
It shone on her skin.
She saw her reflection,
All tiny within.
Then slowly she pressed it
Right onto her cheek.
It felt warm, and familiar,
And soothing and sweet.
She looked in the mirror,
“Well… you know what? Not bad.”
It reminded her somehow
Of days that she had.  
Of laughter
And stories.
Of songs in the car.
Of someone now gone.
But not very far.
“I think I will keep you.”
Sadie then said.
And she wore that small sparkle
To school instead.
It stayed on her cheek
Through the whole day,
Through math class and lunchtime
And laughing and play.
And even if it flew off,
Like many times before,
Sadie now knew
She would always find more.
Because glitter,
Like love,
Has a funny old way,
Of finding you still.
Many years far away.

Good poem, right? I really like it and it came to me at the right time. Like I wrote about previously, you will always be with me, like glitter. Even years later, I’ll look at something purple and think of you and it will ache and hurt and I will miss you like crazy and wonder if life could have been different. But that’s just grief; that’s just love. It will find you in many ways, in many years. No matter how far you are, no matter how far I might be, you will always find a way of coming back to me. I’ll never lose you, and you will never lose me.

I can’t wait to see you again. I love you more, always, and forever.

Love always,
Sha