Someone near and dear to me has been gone four years.  The debilitating shock of grief has faded from that, but there is still a dull ache at times.  Like a trick knee that can forecast a change in the weather.

Today is Día de los Muertos.  When we can feel a stronger bond to those that have gone on before us.  So, on the chance that somehow that works for me, I'm putting this out there.

You mattered to me, Sammy.  I regret that I didn't try more forcefully to communicate that to you from the start.  There are dozens of people that still mourn your absence all these years later.  I wish that I could have reflected more of your own positive energy back at you.  To help you see yourself as so many others did.  My strategy was simple, too.  I just wanted to be there with a hug and a kiss and a kind word every day.

Siochán leat, S.E.G.