things I think about when I have time to think

Six months ago, my eldest daughter lost a best friend , her cat, Vader.  Having recently known and tasted the depths of grief myself, and knowing my daughter as I do,  I tried to help her process it.  We camped out in her bedroom, just the two of us, and waited it out.  At first, I just held her through her first heart-wrenching wails.   I held her tighter as her tears became words, and we talked and we snuggled, and we remembered,  .... and eventually we smiled again   at all the stories that came flooding back to form  the threads that wove the fabric of   his life with us .  We celebrated who he was for the time that he was with us ,  and slowly my daughter began to grasp t he concept of loss.   It always hurts ,  it stings...   Sometimes it can hurt so much   that we forget to breathe , and it feels as though we will never again know the simplicity of happiness and just being again.  But the waves of pain washing over us do begin to settle,  and it is then that