What I have learned:

1.  I can walk farther than I thought, ride a bike and look cool at the same time, and hike into the woods while listening for that voice that I can hear only when the wind is blowing through the trees.
2. I have learned a family can survive the loss and get stronger day by day. 
3. I have learned kids are resilient and make it their quest to remind you that in some ways you now have become the child. Also, you are not allowed to die for a very long time.  That would be unacceptable. 
4. I have learned how lonely life is without that long-term relationship.  I have learned I can also love again, given the opportunity.
5. I can cook and I can be overwhelmed by the monthly bills, just like my wife did.
6. I learned that life does not stop because someone dies. 
7. I have learned I have to work really hard to care about my career.
8. I have learned I have friends and others who love me, even when I do not have the strength to give it back.

I will continue to learn and apply these lessons so I can hope to maintain a direction that means something to me and to those around me.  Hope arises in all of us, and death is not the end.  No matter what you believe, your own lessons can strengthen you and help guide you after the death of someone who is important in your life. 

                                                                    Silence

Falling into silence,

reflecting on what was lost,

only threatens the security

of the individual.

Life continues onward,

as people go about their business.

The awareness of the world,

never noticing the dimness of the individual.

Eventually pieces of different puzzles

transform the new individual

to a different kind of world,

forever changing the past.

It is not bad.

It is not good.

It is not complete.

It is not understood.

It just is.

It is just choices.

Without choices,

there is no moving forward.