Listen Listen gentle people, and hear my truest needs…I hear you stumbling for words. Relax; There are no words…I hear you remembering a funny story about my loved one and looking embarrassed because you are laughing. Share with me. Let me laugh. It gives me something to hold onto in the middle of the night when I feel only pain. Be happy yourself…and let me be me… On days when I can laugh, I will. On days when I can speak of my loved one, I need you to share my memories.. you don’t have to give me answers, for I will learn to live without them. You don’t have to pretend that my loved one never existed, thinking I would forget if you do. Let me speak his name, and you speak it too. He is always a part of who I am. If you take that from me, I will be less than who I am.