Biyaya YOHANNA

You placed books in my hands that taught me how to think long before they taught me how to succeed

You've left fingerprints on the person I am becoming. Long after this season of life has passed, I'll still carry what your friendship taught me. Biyaya Yohanna

Until grief finds you, you may never fully understand it. Grief doesn't only happen at funerals. It arrives in the silence, when everyone who came to mourn has gone home. When the phone stops ringing. When the flowers begin to fade. When the world quietly moves on... But yours doesn't. Biyaya Yohana

But grief doesn't leave. It simply learns to walk beside you. It follows you through your busiest days and sits beside you in your quietest moments. Sometimes it arrives with a memory. Sometimes with a song. Sometimes with an empty chair at the table Biyaya Yohanna

Grief changes you. It changes the way you see the world, the way you love, the way you hold the people who are still here. You never truly get over it. You simply learn to carry it. Because grief isn't something you explain. It's something you survive Biyaya Yohanna

Learn to be kind, even when kindness is not returned. Learn to remain your authentic self, even when others choose deception. Learn to be genuine in a world where emotions are often performed instead of felt.

Don't make your emotional well-being dependent on anyone else's presence, approval, or consistency. Because people come and go. But your peace, your purpose, and your kind heart are worth protecting. Biyaya Yohanna

To me, it's the intangible things that matter. The little thoughts. The quiet kindness. The way you always choose to care Biyaya Yohanna

Be ready to let go. Because the love meant for you will never leave you wondering where you stand. It will never survive on breadcrumbs. It will never make you beg to be chosen. There are people in this world who will love you more deeply than you can imagine. people who will choose you without hesitation. So let go. Biyaya Yohanna

And for once... Choose yourself. Love yourself. Biyaya Yohanna

You never announce yourself, for your arrival carries more than silence can bear. You enter like a heavy blanket, drawing itself over a room, smothering laughter, dimming light, leaving only sorrow, pain, and sometimes, regret. Biyaya Yohanna

You strike at the most unexpected hour. Your visitation leaves tears on pillows, empty seats at dinner tables, phones that will never ring again, and names spoken only in remembrance. Biyaya Yohanna

Yet in your silence, you whisper to those still breathing Love while you can. Forgive while you can. Live while you can. Because one day... you, too, will knock at our door. Biyaya Yohanna