On June 4, 2018, Jeff Elko took his last breath after a brutal four-month onslaught of esophageal cancer. He was a force of nature, the giver of the best hugs on the planet, and an educator known to his colleagues as the “child whisperer” for his ability to calm even the most distressed student.
I had a hard time deciding where I wanted to be on the day that marked the last in a year of firsts – the one year anniversary of my fiancé’s death.
One never really knows when grief will claw its way out of its carefully contained space in the heart and squeeze, but there is a strong likelihood that a “first” will bring with it an increased dose of that familiar feeling of loss. For me, the first Christmas, the first birthday, the first Valentine’s Day without Jeff were all days to “get through” without falling apart.
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