‘I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint.’

Tears streaming down my face, I shift a little under the brace, in a futile attempt to get some respite from the pain that is my spine. The punishment that is this brace is unbearable. For months now, I have had to wear it.

I am alone. I suffer this alone. Nothing to protect me from this.

The pain fills my body and soul. Since the accident, the physical pain has become unbearable. I can’t move without some part of me screaming in agony. And yet, that’s not the worst pain I’ve felt.

Diego has caused much of my sorrow and pain, and yet I can not be without him. It has been several years now that he has been gone and the emptiness is still here.

‘I hope the leaving is joyful; and I hope never to return.’