Epilogue - From the Heart

I don't know how you made it here, but I'm so glad you did.

Writing this book was a way to keep loving. To keep saying "I'm here" when everything inside me seemed to scream the opposite. And now that you've reached the end, I feel that, in some way, I'm not so alone on this journey anymore.

There are absences that become part of us. They don't heal, but we learn to live with them. Sometimes with strength, sometimes with exhaustion, but always with love.

If something in these pages touched you, if at any point you felt that someone else understood what you carry inside, then it was all worth it. Because that's what I needed most when all of this began: not to feel alone in the pain.

Thank you for reading me. For holding this story with your time, with your heart.

And if one day everything hurts again, if you feel like you can't go on... come back to these pages. I'm here. I'm hugging you through them.

Truly, thank you.

—Nancy, Tom, and Olivia.