About a half hour ago, I found out that I lost my great grandmom. Granted, she had Alzheimer's Disease and spent the last eight years of her life ignorant and incompetent about the surrounding world, suffering through a disease that forbid her from recognizing the individuals she loves most.

I believe that like a failure, a loss is inevitable, and that's a tough pill to swallow when it comes to actual humans, especially the ones that you love so much. Losing people that you love comes in all different shapes and sizes. We lose our best friends sometimes, for reasons in vain or just because it had to happen for both of your sake's. Other times, we lose people we love because of uncontrollable factors like big moves to the other side of the country. Those absolutely suck, but here comes the worst of all; death. Losing a loved one from death means never getting them back again. You can fly across the country, but you cannot fly through the gates of heaven.

The pain is something that you never want to face, but accepting it brings a wave of peace. Accepting that your loved one is gone can be difficult and it's because of this; Life is incredible, beautiful, and amazing. It's so fun, there are so many people to meet, learn about, and love, and there are so many opportunities and chances and risks to take. Leaving all of this, just thinking about that, makes it difficult for me to breathe. This is why seeing a loved one go is difficult- they're missing all of this beauty.

But the peace comes when we realize that they lived a full life of these feelings, emotions, and of seeing this beauty. And they would want us to do the same.

This is why we shouldn't take life for granted. We only have one, and we cannot waste it listening to others tell us what to do, where to go, and who to be.

Love who you love, it truly is not that deep. Life is too short to worry.

Something that I learned today was this; Go deep in the ocean, even if there are sharks, crabs, and jellyfish. You could have the time of your life. Maybe you'll get bit- but what if you don't? What if you go in and have the time of your life? What if the water is warm, blissful, and smooth? Hell, what if the love of your life is in the wave next to you? What if the sun shining down on your tanned skin makes you feel heavenly and beautiful? You could get hurt.. but what if you don't?

Life is too short, much to my dismay. It's incredibly short, and we can be angry about it, or we can use it to our advantage and take it and run with it. People ask me why I'm so happy all the time. I took some time to think about this. Am I putting on an act? Yeah, sometimes, definitely. But other times, when you see me skipping or smiling for no reason, laughing out loud, being 'annoying,' it's just because I'm so thankful, and I know how fortunate and blessed I am.

I hope that what they say about the final seven minutes of life is true; that you experience all of life's best moments in one instant. You know those memories that you want to savor forever? Oh, how we wish we could go back. Oh, how we would die to go back? Well, maybe we can retrieve those memories, but at life's price. But sometimes, maybe they are worth it.

I hope that she saw the person that she loved the most. I hope that she relived her wedding day. I hope that she laughed for as long as she lived. I hope that she saw her kids being born, or felt the feelings that she did when she heard that her grandchildren were finally expecting after so many years. I hope that she saw the Disney World trip from when I was a child. I hope that she saw the man that she loved, and felt the same feelings that she did when she saw him for the first time. I hope that she felt love, epiphany, gratitude, grace, and blissfulness. I hope that those last seven minutes were the best of her life.

I hope that you don't cry. I hope that I don't cry. I hope that her funeral brings my family closer. I hope that we feel emotions, because that is what life is about, and it is okay to feel melancholy and to miss somebody that you love.

but most of all, I hope that we cherish our lives. I hope that we constantly stay in the moment. I hope that we do things that we love, and we never regret anything.

I hope that you fall in love with something. A person, a career, a place, a thing, an animal, anything.

But most of all- I hope that you fall in love with life.

This article is dedicated to my great grandmom, my GiGi. Rest easy, and I love you. I hope that you lived the life that you have always imagined.