Today I hear echoes quieted. Echoes of laughter, rich deep laughter, full of the deepest joy I have heard conveyed in a voice. Echoes of futures that could have been, but now will never be. When I first heard that Laura had killed herself, it had this moment of reality, and I mourned. The moment has passed, and I feel in utter shock, wondering how it can be true.

Incomprehensible amounts of pain. I cannot begin to comprehend it. I cannot begin to think of something that would make someone so desperate as to take their own life, but I realize that is only because I have been spared of the personal experience.

She used to joke around about which of us would be my nieces favorite aunt, her or me. I can't believe she's gone.