Wise Words, Much Appreciated

I have received many wonderful condolence cards and messages over the past week or so. Several expressed sentiments that I've found to be particularly comforting as I try to make sense of this overwhelming experience.

Here are a couple:

Losing a parent is an awful thing: they are our connection to life in the first place, so that when a parent dies, it cuts you off from someone you have always known and loved, from the moment you were born. In a way, it brings a very long first chapter of your life to a close and this is not easy.

The sadness now is the exchange for the enduring love that you two shared. You wouldn't have traded that for anything.