Sometimes the hardest thing to grieve isn’t the person. It’s the future you imagined with them.

Angel: She thinks she misses them.

God: She doesn’t miss them. She misses who she thought they were.

The version of love she was hoping for. The hope itself.

– Jacqueline Whitney

Angel: What’s the difference?

God: The person she’s mourning never actually existed. She’s been grieving the version she hoped they’d become. The version she could see, even when they kept showing her something different. The version she kept holding on to even when reality kept telling her otherwise.

Angel: Will she ever know the difference?

God: She’s starting to. There are moments when she catches herself missing them and realizes she’s not missing them at all. She’s missing the future she imagined with them. The version of love she was hoping for. The hope itself.

Angel: That’s harder to let go of.

God: It is. People are easier to release than possibilities. But she’s getting there. Every time she stops herself from reaching back, she’s choosing the truth over the story. That’s how she finally lets go.

Jacqueline Whitney is the author Held: A 50 Day Devotional For Parents and All That You Deserve.