I've never heard it put better than this...

Dean Koontz is my all time favorite author, I've been reading his books since I was 13 years old and still love them. I am halfway through his latest book "Odd Hours" and there is a part where the main character is talking about grief and loss (he lost the love of his life) and I literally had to read it twice because I have never heard it put better than this, I'm sure anyone who has ever lost someone they love will be able to understand the truth is his words:

"Grief can destroy you - or focus you. You can decide a relationship was all for nothing if it had to end in death, and you are alone. Or you can realize that every moment of it had more meaning than you dared to recognize at the time, so much so that it scared you, so you just lived, just took for granted the love and laughter of each day, and didn't allow yourself to consider the sacredness of it. But when it's over and you're alone, you begin to see it wasn't just a movie and a dinner together, not just watching sunsets together, not just scrubbing a floor or washing dishes together or worrying over a high electric bill. It was everything, it was the why of life, every event and every precious moment of it. The answer to the mystery of existence is the love you shared sometimes so imperfectly, and when the loss wakes you to the deeper beauty of it, to the sanctity of it, you can't get off your knees for a long time, you're driven to your knees not by the weight of the loss but by gratitude for what preceded the loss. And the ache is always there, but one day not the emptiness, because to nurture the emptiness, to take solace in it, is to disrespect the gift of life."I'm so grateful for the incredible gift I had to get to spend 3 years and 2 months and 16 days with a boy I love with all my heart. And so incredibly grateful for the 3 other little ones that I love so much and am so blessed to still have in my arms.