It probably took another month before I was finally ready to choose a yellow rose to grow at home. It sits outside our front door and I’m still not sure I’m ready for it to be there.

But that’s okay.

Everyone in my family seems to have had their chance to visit this marker now that it’s there, but I don’t know when I will be able to. The trip to Ohio requires enough planning that adding a trip to West Virginia on top of that feels impossible.

I miss her so much.+

We left her on a hill in her home state of West Virginia, with her Mother, her Father, her oldest brother, and her oldest sister. Her casket had a bouquet of yellow roses.

The words the preacher spoke were old. They were comforting.

I wasn’t supposed to have to carry her casket, but I did.