5th of 5 Come Sit With Me a While: A place for every goodbye...

Goodbyes carve us. They change the shape of our days, the rhythm of our breath, the way we move through the world. Some goodbyes are expected. Some arrive like a storm we never saw coming.

The land here has held many of mine.

There’s a small rise near the back pasture where the grass grows tall in summer and the wind moves like a slow hymn. I’ve stood there more times than I can count—sometimes with tears, sometimes with gratitude, often with both.

Horses understand goodbyes in a way humans rarely do. They don’t rush grief or try to make it tidy. They simply stand with what is true.

I once watched two mares linger over the body of an old herd mate. They touched noses to his mane, breathed him in one last time, and then—when they were ready—they turned toward the herd and walked on.

Not forgetting. Not replacing. Just carrying the love forward.

There is a place for every goodbye. For the ones we speak aloud. For the ones we never got to say. For the ones we’re still learning how to live with.

If you’re holding a goodbye that feels too heavy to carry alone, come sit with me a while. Let the land hold what your hands cannot. Let the horses stand with you in the ache. Let this be a place where grief is honored, not hurried.

A song to sit with: Ed Sheeran — “The Parting Glass”

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