FRAGMENTS OF ABSENCE: A DAUGHTER'S JOURNEY THROUGH GRIEF

         I’ve had my own fair share of love and loss in my lifetime, one of which was losing my father at a young age. I never got to know him, and growing up without his presence shaped a significant part of who I am today. I wasn't very fond of the pitying gazes that came my way, the stares, and the judgments people made when they realized I was half an orphan. Sure, he was gone, but three-year-old me didn’t understand that. My grandmother often tells me how I reacted on the day of his burial. She said that when they were lowering the casket, I stopped them and said, 'Why are you lowering my Daddy into the ground? He’s just sleeping!' They didn’t know how to react; they found it funny at first but then realized the weight of the moment—that I would grow up without him.       Growing up I often heard people say that knew my father, and how it was such a waste that I didn't get to know him. They always told me how much I looked like him and h...