Why We Show Up

Sometimes we may feel it coming. The slow shift of a goodbye beginning to form in the distance. When someone we love is nearing the end, grief doesn’t wait for the moment. It already begins in the quiet hours, in the glances, in the knowing. 

Then the day comes.  People arrive. Not because it’s easy, but because it matters. A funeral is something we do out of love. An unwanted family reunion, where time stretches and softens, and all the noise of the world quiets down.

Old friends. Old family ties. People who haven’t seen each other in years now together in the same room, sharing stories no one’s told in a long time. It’s not perfect. It’s not polished. But it’s real.

The world that often keeps us apart, divided by schedules, screens, and the rush of everything; a funeral becomes one of the rare moments we show up for one another without pretending to be fine.