We meet people in our life, and some of them feel like they belong with us. Slowly, we start to believe they are meant to stay, that they are part of our forever. We hold them close in our thoughts and build a future where leaving does not exist. Their presence becomes familiar, comforting, almost necessary. Without knowing, we begin to shape our days around them.

But life is not built on forever. People are not given to us to keep, they are given to us to shape us. Some stay for a lifetime, some only for a moment. And when they leave, it does not mean the connection was false. It means their purpose in our life was fulfilled. What remains is the change they left behind, quietly living inside us.

— Chamod Senevirathne