People often talk about finding love after loss as beginning Chapter 2. But that never felt quite right to me.

I think of my life now as the sequel. A sequel doesn’t erase the first story—it exists because that story came before it.

My life with Dave shaped who I am, how I love, and even my ability to open my heart again.

The story I’m living now is different, but it doesn’t replace the one that came before. In many ways, it was made possible by it.