It’s never easy losing someone you know. The loss of someone can truly be a heartbreaking experience for anyone; no matter if the death was that of a close friend or that of a recent acquaintance. Death is something we are taught when we are very young. It is a concept that time ages and educates us, we still cannot completely and firmly understand. Ever since I was very young my mom did her best to help me understand death. She, much like every other mom, taught me that when a person passes, they are in a better place and do not have to continue to suffer any longer. This was a common explanation for mothers to give their children, but another thing my mom taught me about death is that those who have impacted us and those who have loved us, never truly leave us. They watch over us in some way, shape, or form. Now while I was raised Catholic I still feel that this holds so much truth no matter what your religious beliefs are.

Even if you don’t believe in a higher being, I still feel this is something that we should really try to understand. If you take a moment and consider all of the things you have learned from that person in life and in death, from all times they’ve crossed your mind since their passing, to all the people you have seen impacted by their passing; they haven’t truly and completely left us. We may never hear their laughter at our jokes or hear them lament their struggles, but we still see small bits of them in each and every act that their friends and family undertake.

So I ask you to take a moment and reflect on the kind of person you are. Ask yourself, how do you treat others? How kind are you versus how kind can you be? I know I have always been the kind of person who feels like there is always room for improvement in my life. Be it my grades, my dedication to procrastination prevention, my good and bad habits, and even in my friendships, I have always tried to improve. So naturally with the death of a friend in the past weeks I have done a lot of thinking. Thinking about the kind of person I want to be known as. Thinking about how it truly is little actions that go a long way. Thinking about how I can be a better person, how I can improve.

Seeing how many people can be impacted by one shy, yet undeniably incredible and involved young woman, I feel challenged. Challenged to be kinder, to be gentler, to be more understanding, and to never ever forget to tell those who I care about that I love them. I feel challenged to tell people how incredibly proud I am of them, to tell people how much I admire them. Sometimes it’s hard to tell someone things like this, but I feel like it shouldn’t take a death to get us to say them. So with this I challenge you. I challenge you to take all that you have learned from those who are not with us, and to then challenge yourself to be kinder and gentler.