Has it Been So Long???

7 months ago, I was the happiest I remember ever having been.
6 months ago, my world crashed once again.
5 months ago, I started seeking out help and attempting to be as happy as I was 7 months ago.
3 Months ago, I was almost there... but really it was simply relief from finals being done.
2 months ago, I started considering a trip to Alberta, to see a friend who had not even left yet.
One month ago, I saw a rainbow which made me smile... and cry.
10 days ago, I was supposed to go to Hope with a friend, but ended up driving to Harrison Hot Springs by myself.
5 days ago, I found out there would be a gathering to commemorate 6 months ago.
3 days ago I cried for no apparent reason while driving towards one of my major "happy places".
45 minutes ago, I read a wonderful note on facebook that made me smile and cry... longing for supernatural powers that would allow me to undo 6 months ago... and yearning to return to St. John's Newfoundland, 7 months ago!

I know that we can never turn back the hands of time. We can only go forward in time. It does not mean we must move on in life and completely forget about the adversities we all have faced, but it means we CAN move on and remember the great things before the adversities, as well as the positive outcomes of the adversities... People come together in a time of adversity, leaving us all with a sense of community, a larger support system that we did not know existed and even new friends. When we face adversities we become greatful for the people and opportunities that we have in life, as well as the people and opportunities to be with and know the people that we may have lost.
It will never get easier. It will never become second nature. But eventually we will all heal and rather than crying about what we have lost, we will smile and remember the things that make us happy. Has it been so long? Yes, it has... but eventually "this too shall pass" and we will be as happy as I was 7 months ago!

RIP Maija-Liisa. May you continue to watch over us and grace us with your beauty everyday of our lives.