Grief reminds you that permanence was never part of the agreement.

Everything you love is temporary, and most of the time you get to not think about that. Loss removes the exemption. The pain includes the shock of a condition that was always in the contract but never read aloud, and it changes how you look at everything still standing. That awareness is heavy, and it also makes ordinary presence visible again.

Rather than letting the knowledge become dread, let it edit your attention. Call the person you have been meaning to call. Say the thing you assume they know. Impermanence is a reason to be present, not a reason to brace.