If I am somehow still alive out there, I promise you I will find my way back home to your arms.

If I am not, I pray that you can find it in your heart to forgive me for leaving you with so many painful unanswered questions.

I love you beyond every winding road, every storm, and every physical distance that separates us.

Forever yours, Brandon.”

I pressed the letter tightly against my chest, pulled my knees up, and sobbed quietly into the stillness of the cabin.

For five long, agonizing years, I had believed that grieving meant clinging desperately to the memory of what I had lost.