THE LAST LETTER

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 11 // 𝑀𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛

《No, I don't wanna know
Where you been or where you're goin';
But I know I won't be home,
And you'll be on your own.

It ain't me - Selena Gomez》

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I was stood in front of my mirror, staring at myself in a black dress and wondering about how much I had grown up in the last four years without my Dad. Life hasn't been easy without him and I know how much ever happy I'm, it'd never be enough without him. But I've been holding up well all this time, for my Mom, for me, and I've always tried my best to not break down in front of them. But today it was different, today was the only day that I cried my heart out every year for the past four years. Today was the day that I didn't care about breaking down because he deserved to know how much I missed him and I deserved it too, not because I was weak or something but because I've been strong for too long, a year exactly.

"Grace, are you ready?" came Lucas's voice, as he pushed opened the door.

"Yeah, let's go," I said, turning towards him.

It's been five days since my disagreement with Lucas, and I know I was not supposed to rely on him, but today I needed him. He knew that too, and here we were. He was always there for me in my worst and best life situations and today was one of them, the eleventh of September, the day I lost my Dad forever.

I got out of the house to see Lucas already waiting for me in his Mustang. I quietly got into it, and then we drove off to the cemetery. Standing on this ground was the toughest moment for me even after all these years. Not just because of my Dad but because of all the tombstones that surrounded me. So many people lost their loved ones and buried them here and the pain they must've been through because of their loss hurts my heart to the core. I just hope that God had better plans for them to take them away from us.

I slowly made my way to my Dad's grave with Lucas silently following behind as I see a fresh flower bouquet already present. Mom was here. She had called me earlier, telling me about Grams health and that she had to stay there for a few more days and she had also told me about taking a flight from California to visit Dad.

𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚏

𝙶𝙴𝙾𝚁𝙶𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙸𝙰𝙼𝚂𝙾𝙽
𝙵𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛- 𝙷𝚞𝚜𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍- 𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍
(𝟷𝟿𝟼𝟽- 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟿)
𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎

It hurts to read these words every time I'm here but it also heals my heart to know that he was a good father, husband, and friend, and wherever he is, he is now at peace. No one could ever fill the void he left behind and he will always be loved and remembered, with that thought, I kneeled in front of his tombstone with Lucas by my side.

My breathing was ragged, gasping, and my body slumped forward as if all the strength had left my body. Wild emotions swirled inside me as I breathed in my pain and suffering.

"Hey, Dad," I started as I placed the bouquet of fresh flowers on the headstone.
"How are you? I hope you're at peace." I smiled at him and continued, "I miss you," my voice broke.

"I'll always remember that caring smile, that loving heart, and that warm embrace of yours. Thank you for the years of love you gave me, I'll always love you Dad, and there will never be anyone to replace you In my heart and the love that I've for you. Mom's fine, and Paul is nice as well. He loves us. And there's Lucas, still my best friend after all these years. We have a lot of disagreements, but eventually, he comes around." I smiled at my Dad as tears started to form in the back of my eyes.