Traces of You

I almost assume,

When I look in your room,

That you will be standing there,

Alive and aware.

I look at your bed,

Where you last laid your head,

And I press my nose to your pillow,

Because the scent of you still lingers there,

A faint trace in the air.

I hug your pillow and wish that it was you,

Crying and saying, our moments were too few,

Without you here, I don't know what to do.

Your artwork is on your walls,

Beautiful photographs to remind us all,

Of how fortunate we were while you were here,

How you brightened so many of our years.

Now my world feels destroyed,

How do I fill the void?

The future is not what I thought it would be,

Time seems to stretch endlessly.

Building a life anew,

Is an agonizing process to go through,

Anything else in life seems mild,

In comparison to losing your child.

Love is the answer to every question we scream,

Love is for what we dream,

I pray for love in all its forms,

Because it is in love that we are reborn.

I know in my heart that this is true,

And I am finding this path through the loss of you,

The sacrifice on both our parts,

Will strengthen our hearts.

Let me feel the universal flow,

To come to know,

That love can not be divided,

When in spirit we are forever united.

   Graham had this picture on the door of his apartment, and we framed it and put it on the wall of his room here (it can be seen on the wall in the picture at the top of this post).  He produced this image using his skill with Photoshop acquired while studying graphic design, putting his face into a portrait by  Jacques-Louis David of General Étienne-Maurice Gérard (1773–1852), Marshal of France (the original can be seen here).  He loved the idea of being depicted as a sea captain or admiral (he didn't think anyone would know it was really a French general).  He planned to use this on his business card.