“When you remember me, it means you have carried something of who I am with you, that I have left some mark of who I am on who you are. It means that you can summon me back to your mind even though countless years and miles may stand between us. It means that if we meet again, you will know me. It means that even after I die, you can still see my face and hear my voice and speak to me in your heart.”
Frederick Buechner
Dear one,
I come back to this quote every time I get caught up in missing someone. Whether I am missing them because they’ve moved, we’re estranged, or they’ve graduated from this life, I find comfort in the idea that I carry a part of them with me.
I strive to cause change in people because I’m in their lives, but in doing so I have to accept the risk that I cannot control what that change looks like. I don’t get to decide whether my presence in your life is a positive or a negative, and that’s ok.
Let go of the need to control how others see you. Focus on the ones who will miss you when you’re not around.
Never forget that I love you, and that excludes no one.
Love,
