It had been devastating. The fire started small, as these things do, insidiously growing, creeping, swallowing everything it touched. In the blink of an eye it had consumed the house, taken a life and destroyed memories, hopes and dreams.

The life too quickly gone was one of significance. She mattered. She loved and was loved in return. Young souls were devastated by the loss, understanding neither the reason nor the significance of their sudden bereavement. Too much. Too soon.

The upheaval was monstrous and violent. To attempt to carry on as before, to pick up where we had left off was impossible and unwanted. Reality had changed, twisting on its axis at a perverse angle. What was up was now down, black was white, day became night. The clock stopped for a moment and then restarted, but now the tick sounded different. Each moment was its own unique self – unordered and isolated. Certain ordinary tasks or memories evoked a visceral reaction, others were totally devoid of emotion. To operate in such a strange environment took gargantuan effort.

The months since then have been at best surreal, at worst a misadventure of Dantean proportions. There has been light, burning so bright that it too might catch fire and eviscerate all in its path, but the light illuminates our path with goodness and hope for a future filled with joy.

Outside of the light the darkness reigns. It pervades the nostrils with the smell of decay and death. The darkness litters our path with dangerous obstacles and confusion, attempting all the while to deter us from our intended direction; to make us stumble and fall as we climb that mountain back to happier times.

The darkness will not succeed in its quest. It will not take us down to depths unknown, where fire again rages and pain pervades. The darkness will fail because it cannot overcome the light that binds the universe together. Love.

Love reigns supreme. The young lives so devastated are loved intensely and honestly. They are wrapped in a secure blanket that cannot be infiltrated by the negative. They will overcome this adversity. We will reach the light hand in hand. Love is the answer.