Dear Ave,

Before I was anything, I was your daughter. You are the beginning, middle and the end of me.  I do not understand a world without you in it, because I have never known a world without you in it. 

Losing you feels like I have been ripped apart. The world is cruel to the living, and it expects me to live on when I feel shredded inside. But  I will let myself cry, and grit my teeth when those moments of deep, soul-shattering pain comes, and endure the pain. 

Because with great grief comes great love. 

And I loved you, more than anyone else in this entire world. 

And I will wait for the time that I learn to live with the emptiness you left. 

Because that emptiness you left only equals the love that you filled. 

Before I was anything, I was your daughter. You are the beginning, middle and the end of me. And my life will be the extension of your life, as will the life of my siblings and all the people you left behind who loved you. 

 I will live on and learn how this new world works. And I will always remember. And I will always miss you, but at the same time, as long as my heart is beating, you will always be here.

You are me, and I am you. 

You are the beginning, middle and end of me. 

I love you Mama. 

Love, Hershey