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Sanity's Edge. Coping Out Loud's avatar

"Each loss stripped away another layer of illusion that my life would unfold just as I had planned. However, I do feel love. I truly believe love doesn’t vanish when the person does, it transforms. It sinks deep down in your bones, deeper into our memory and somehow knows how to evolve with us. I feel like my loved ones who have transitioned are still right here with me. " @Leisa Martin

This took my breath away. I feel this so deeply, especially when I need to most. What a great read! 💚💚💚

Mark Crutchfield's avatar

Dear Leisa,

"Everything is temporary" is such a beautiful and perfectly observed line and title that sets the scene for this being a piece about remembrance. Yet, whilst it does touch on it, it's something far more powerful, and this is actually about transformation and perception.

The journey you take us on is so beautifully held, and each moment is held with care, and leaves me with the feeling that nothing really disappears; it just changes how it asks to be loved, which is such a lovely thought.

Yes, there is sadness here, but warmth too, and in the best of ways.

Leisa Martin's avatar

Thank you so much. I really enjoyed writing this one. It didn’t feel forced, it just flowed. I love it when that happens. Thanks for reading and commenting. It means a lot.

Mark Crutchfield's avatar

I think the flow really came through Leisa and that's what we could feel naturally 🫶

HeartScribe's avatar

I really felt this, Leisa. Every word. 💕

Leisa Martin's avatar

Thank you so much for reading it and commenting. And I’m so glad I resonated with you.🧡🧡🧡

HeartScribe's avatar

It sure did, Leisa—-thanks for sharing your heart. 💜

Rev. Kevin T. Taylor's avatar

Leisa, the recordings of your father, your mother’s love of gardening, and the routines you shared with your husband show how love continues as inheritance after the life around it changes. Those inheritances keep shaping how you listen, tend, remember, and even protect what deserves a boundary. Grief may alter the form of a relationship while leaving its influence woven into ordinary choices we scarcely notice ourselves making. Thank you for trusting us with the people and experiences that taught you what “holding on to love” actually means.

Leisa Martin's avatar

Thank you so much for reading and offering your kind words. It means a lot to me as this one felt so easy and joyful for me to write.

God in Small Things's avatar

So beautiful. I totally agree, Love remains. Always 🤍✨🙏

Scarlett's avatar

Of all feelings, love stays within us for years. To think about it is a wonderful realization. I think some feelings are louder than love and we tend to give them all our attention.

Leisa Martin's avatar

That is so very true. Thanks so much for reading and commenting.🧡

Inbar Shahar's avatar

"Love doesn't vanish when the person does—it transforms." That line really touched me. I think love has a quiet way of continuing to shape who we become. 🌿

Leisa Martin's avatar

I’m so glad this resonated with you, Inbar. It warms my heart.

VJ's avatar

"I truly believe love doesn’t vanish when the person does, it transforms."

What a beautiful and thoughtful reflection on love, Leisa. I can't imagine everything you've had to carry, and I appreciate you putting these thoughts into words. I think hope belongs in that same bucket as love, and I wish you so much of it in the days ahead. Like love, I don't think hope truly vanishes either...

Leisa Martin's avatar

Thank you, VJ. I think you’re right, hope belongs there too. 🧡

Salley J Robins's avatar

Love is all we have left of those we’ve lost. It is a kind of homage to their memory. You are still loved because you still love.

Leisa Martin's avatar

That’s a beautiful sentiment, Salley.🧡

VedicSoul - By~ A Bhardwaj's avatar

🙏🙏

Antonio Castellaneta's avatar

What stayed with me was the idea that love does not disappear with the person—it changes where it lives. A voice becomes a recording, a routine becomes an absence, a lesson becomes part of the way we move through the world. That does not make loss easier, but it gives grief somewhere to place its hands. Love remains, not unchanged, but still present.

Leisa Martin's avatar

Thank you for reading this,Antonio. It means a lot.🧡

Leisa Martin's avatar

Thank you, Mark!🧡

Leisa Martin's avatar

Thank you, Taro!🧡