I wish I could be there tonight,
To sit beside you in the quiet,
To put my arms around you when words are not enough.
I wish I could take away the ache,
That comes when someone you have loved your whole life,
Is slowly becoming a memory.
I know you are hurting.
I know there are things you don’t have to say for me to hear them.
And it hurts me too— not only because I am losing someone I love,
But because my sons are hurting and I cannot be there to hold them through it.
You may be grown men now,
But somewhere inside my heart you are still my little boys,
The ones I held close,
The ones I wanted to protect from every hurt this world could bring.
I cannot stand beside you tonight.
I cannot make this goodbye easier.
I cannot stop the tears or turn back the years.
But I hope you know this:
When your heart is breaking,
Mine is breaking with yours.
Love does not disappear when someone leaves us.
It stays—in stories,
In photographs,
In the things she taught you,
In pieces of her that live in you.
And it stays in me, too.
So tonight,
Though I cannot be where you are,
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine my arms around you.
I am there. In every way that matters, I am there. And I always will be.