“Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room. Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. … I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. All is well.”
— HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND
In 2003 I took a 12 year old filled with independence and fierce determination to Interlochen Arts Camp, a place where I spent 4 transformative years at an age not much older than she was. I cried for most of the 4 hour ride home. Today I sit in a cabin on Green Lake – rowing distance from where I sewed point shoes with her at the other end of the lake on the day I dropped her off. I have not stopped crying since June 8, 2014. It has been 14 months since she slipped away into the next room. My pain is infinite. But with every sunrise I have faith that she is just around the corner, waiting for me. With gratitude for every single minute she was with me and for the beauty she has left me with.
