May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month, a time that calls for not only fundraising and raising awareness, but also for remembering and honoring those we've lost. CF is a genetic disorder that has a tight knit community of people with CF and their loved ones who are forever bonded through shared experience, shared challenges, and often, shared grief. While grief is familiar, so is hope. So is resilience. So is joy.

One of the most beautiful and heartbreaking truths about the CF community is this: it is built on love, connection, and stories that outlive the people who lived them.

Grief doesn’t always require years of memories. Sometimes, it's enough to know someone's heart, to feel their impact, and to carry forward the lessons they taught just by being who they were. 

It’s easy to feel helpless in the face of loss, especially loss tied to a disease that continues to take too many lives too soon. But sharing real, honest stories can be a way to honor. To grieve. To celebrate. When we tell these stories, we’re not just keeping memories alive, we’re affirming that their lives mattered. That they matter still. We’re not just keeping memories alive; we’re creating something new with them. A sense of meaning. A sense of direction. A shared future that includes everyone we’ve loved, lost, and still carry with us.

This CF Awareness Month, I hope people will feel empowered to speak the names of those they’ve lost, even if they never met them in person. I hope families and friends will tell stories that bring their loved ones back into the room, if only for a moment. I hope those living with CF feel seen, heard, and deeply loved.

We don’t grieve because we’re weak, we grieve because we have loved. And that love doesn’t disappear when someone is gone. It transforms. It becomes a legacy. And if we let it, it becomes part of how we shape the path forward, together.

Alyssa, thank you for the strength and love you passed on to your family, and for somehow guiding me into it. You will always be part of our story and our life.

We carry your stories forward. Always.