Duane S Nicholson

We had so many plans.

So many dreams, trips, lazy Sundays still ahead.

Time slipped away without warning, and it broke something in me.

You weren’t supposed to be a memory. But here we are.

I still catch myself reaching for you—your laugh, your voice, your arms.

It hurts in ways I can’t explain.

But it also reminds me just how real our love was.

Because to grieve this deeply means we loved deeply.

Even though your life was cut short, your love wasn’t.

It continues in the way I hold your memory.

In the way I live with more intention.

You didn’t get forever, but you left an imprint that will never fade.

I carry the life we had together with care, with gratitude, with aching love.

You were taken too soon.

But your love still surrounds me.