Entry #1

Even though the date on the calendar belied a soon shift in the weather to warmth and life, on this day, winter clung to the barren landscape like a drowning man clutching to a drifting coffin. The sky was shot through with gray, not an iota of blue to be seen; the overcast gloom threatening to drench the world with dreary rain at any moment.
You had ventured out on this melancholy day to celebrate. An irony not lost on you as you struck out through the gates towards your destination, the crunch of your shoes on the pea gravel path the only sound in this desolate resting place. No one else took the trip with you. Never matter; you would remember, if only you alone.
As you reached the marker, your mind wandered to better times. Days spent laughing and smirking, or hours spent with frustration and futility, only to break through the doldrums to the catharsis of victory. Your sombre disposition softened as all the happy memories slipped through your mind's eye. But then, you arrived at the marker.
There weren't words you could say. Not when it happened, and not now. The sting of your loss made your chest ache. It would never be the same.
But things change, you remembered. For the bad, and for the good, as well. Not every passing is an ending, but merely...another step forward.
You placed the small vase in front of the stone, a single quivering lily within the fragile porcelain container. The grief was gone now, and as you walked away from the things you remembered, your heart lighter than it was when you arrived, the light of the sun peeked, ever so subtly, through the clouds.