Loss is not always measured by who is gone.
Sometimes it is measured by what remains.

The empty chairs represent the people whose absence shaped my life. Some left through death. Some left through distance. Some left through choices that could never be undone.

For years, I stared at empty chairs. Waiting. Hoping. Wondering if someone would return. But absence is not evidence that I am unlovable. It is evidence that I have loved deeply.

I am learning that my life is not defined by who is missing. It is defined by the courage to keep showing up anyway.