Sometimes I wonder if love always knew what it was asking of me
Long before I held her
Long before I knew her love of snails or the sound of her laugh
Maybe the universe already understood the length of her life
Seventeen years
Six months
Thirteen days
A whole lifetime, even if it was shorter than mine
Maybe it whispered
Here is your girl
She will change you
She will delight you
She will challenge you
She will open your heart in ways you cannot imagine
And you will not get to keep her as long as you wish
If I had known how deep the missing would go
If I had known how many mornings would start with her name in my throat
Would I still have chosen her
Yes
Always yes
Because Jess filled those years with more life than most people find in decades
She created things out of thin air
She saw beauty where others walked past
She lifted people without even noticing she had done it
She loved her friends fiercely
She learned by trying
She made art from curiosity and whimsy
She carried a light that did not ask permission
It simply existed
And we all felt it
Her time was short
But her impact refuses to be small
She leaves fingerprints on hearts, stories in pockets, laughter that still rises when we need it most
I wish she had stayed
Of course I do
But I also believe she came here with a purpose only she could fulfill
And she completed it in her own bright way
She lived the exact number of days she was given
And she filled them all with wonder and love
Grief Heart Project 