8/26/18 Special Sunday Targeted Edition

Today's Horoscope Special Sunday Targeted Edition

All signs:
The stars know we lose those we love along the way. They leave us with all kinds of things. Good memories, of the love and devotion and joy they brought us. Confusion and conflict and unresolved matters that we are saddled with, perhaps never getting closure. Lessons about life, about being courageous and following your dreams, or about how your life can go astray when you don't. Some gifts come wrapped up in pretty paper and bows, some don't seem like gifts at all.
Alas, that's human beings. None are perfect, and all are driven and influenced by a million things we can't even guess at. No matter how well you know someone, how wonderful and kind, or how selfish and distant, they will all leave you at some point.
Then you are left to grieve, and miss the good things and lament the bad. At times you don't think you will make it. You may have lost your confidant, your rock. You might have lost someone who let their issues become yours. You might have broke down and wailed uncontrollably because you lost your whole world, or you might have locked your feelings deep inside and not faced it, because that's what got you through life so far. The world didn't end. You survived, even though for vastly different reasons you couldn't see the point at times.
Humans have a way of marking time and giving anniversaries meaning, for good or bad. We can't help it, it's in our DNA. So when the anniversary of a great loss comes along, we tear open old wounds and repeat the process that nearly destroyed us when it first happened. That is how deep the mark we leave on the people around us is, that is how strong love is that lives inside us.
We hang onto our memories, and we hang onto the people we loved, protecting our vision of them and keeping them close. It's a process, and it goes on for the rest of your life, that's the reward for longevity.
So every year, celebrate the people you've lost when that anniversary comes along. Marvel at how much of them you still carry with you through life. Think about the good things they left you with that made you a better person, and try to pass those lessons along to those you love. Think about how you overcame some of the hard lessons they taught you, and the faults they couldn't overcome, and try not to emulate that.
Whether they achieved great things, or whether they came up short in some areas, or more likely both, reconcile it and make your peace with that.
Then celebrate them, and celebrate the fact that you had someone in your life that you cared about so much. Celebrate the fact that you are proud to be like them in some ways, and proud to handle some things better than they did because they illustrated how not to do it. Celebrate the very fact that you still grieve, because that means you are still capable of loving, and still capable of caring. Celebrate your heart along with theirs. Your heart that makes you capable of wonderful or terrible things, and those you loved who taught you the difference between the two.