As I sit on the top of the mountain, my physical body is high above the clouds, but my heart sinks to the depths of the black ocean. I know it is an inevitable part of life, but my little girl brain knows he will live forever…

Confusion and heaviness cloud my mind like the dense rock, clay, and slate that make up this mountain. I don’t want to see through to the other side because that means…it has actually happened…

I close my eyes and listen…

I listen to the mountain and the steady heartbeat I swear I can hear coming from her depths. I listen to the winds and the melodious chorus as they feed my bones. I listen to the trees as they whisper through their wild branches, “You are never alone.” I listen to the silence…and I hear him.

The darkness begins to dispel as a deep acceptance sets in. He is not gone…

He is here with me on this mountain, in the wind, in the trees, in the rich, sacred sounds of silence.

He has returned to that from which he came; from what we all are. He is not gone. He beats, he sings, he whispers, he echoes into eternity.

For more self-study, The Urban Howl recommends The Desire Map: A Guide to Creating Goals with Soul.