Tomorrow, Ivor, my first dog guide, will have been gone for 10 years. It’s amazing how that happens. In the moment, when the loss is fresh, you can’t imagine how you will continue. The pain is so raw. The hurt is so intense.

But time keeps going. Eventually, you start remembering the good times more than you focus on the loss.

The next thing you know, a decade has gone. Now, you almost always remember the good times. You appreciate all you got from your time together.

Then, something happens to remind you that time has gone. You become aware that a decade earlier was one of the worst experiences of your life. One of the things most important to you left.

Still, you have a decade of adjustment to help you keep going. You know you will never forget. You know it was, sadly, for the best.

You think of the love you lost and you realize in some ways that love will never be gone.