The Ache of Having Loved

It's a curious thing, the weight of a goodbye that lingers longer than the moment itself. To part from something, someone, some place, and feel the ache — that specific, tender ache — is, in its way, a kind of luck. A quiet reminder that whatever you're leaving behind meant enough to matter, that it settled itself into the softest corners of you. Saying goodbye isn't hard because of what's lost. It's hard because of what was found, and how rare that is.