Watching the world around us can become a devastating thing. We watch as things happen that we never thought would, and then we’re terrified. We see the news streaming across our timelines when things happen, and we’re filled with mourning, and most of the time it’s over people we didn’t even have the opportunity to meet… yet they’ve so thoroughly and compassionately impacted our lives that it feels like we did.

On June 11th, 2016 a phenomenal singer named Christina Grimmie was gunned down at the young age of 22 after her own concert as she was signing autographs and meeting fans. She was a beautiful, pure soul who had such a tremendous faith that it was overwhelming. Twitter timelines are filled with things like #RIPChristina and #PrayForChristina. Over a million tweets, and only a few of these people even had the opportunity to meet this young woman.

Other amazing people have been lost this year that we never got to meet but still mourn: David Bowie, Prince, Muhammad Ali, Chyna, Doris Roberts, Merle Haggard, Nancy Reagan, and many, many more.

I think there’s a reason we feel so close to these people. They inspire us, make us feel worth it. Their talents inspire us to achieve our dreams, and we wonder how someone who great could be taken so soon. We look at the world around us and question it’s intentions. While living in a corrupted society, these people have distracted us and made us feel a utopia for a short while.

To the people we never got to meet but are mourning:

You inspired us. You taught us to follow our dreams. We got to see the world through your actions for a short while. You gave us a distraction from the atrocities. You showed us what it meant to believe in something… to believe in ourselves. You guided us through some of our darkest times, and even they you were there it felt like you were holding our hand through it.

We were showed what it was like to have a dream and to chase it. In a world that is so driven on sticking to the status-quo, you pushed against it. Your drive and ambitions pushed us to have aspirations and dreams. Because of you, many of us were able to become ourselves.

Thank you for all you’ve done -- we will miss you, and you forever live on through us.