Morgan's artwork (age 8)

This is a picture that Morgan drew, while my brother Rik and I were working on the program for our dad's funeral. When I think about it, I remember it like it was yesterday and not 10 years ago.

Preparing for a funeral is so strange. It keeps you very focused and busy for a couple of days, which is a great distraction from your shock, pain and sorrow. But what's even more strange, is the day after the funeral. That cold, dark, empty stillness is almost indescribable.

It's the day after the funeral, when it really hits home that the person you lost is truly gone and never coming back. Never going to call you again, never going to laugh with you again, never going to walk through that door as they had so many times before. There's this finality that's so difficult to live with. It takes a long time before you get used to living with the finality of it all.

Time doesn't lessen your loss or pain, but time does allow you to laugh again, feel again, and be hopeful again. Time truly is the only cure to mend your broken heart.