2015.

The best year of my life and the worst year of life. The season of light. The season of darkness. The spring of hope. The winter of despair. I had everything before me. I had nothing before me. My life summed up as the beginning of a Dickens novel.

My name is Mondi Gale. On a Sunday evening in May 2015 my daughter was born, the happiest day of life. On a Friday afternoon in August 2015 my husband was violently murdered, the worst day of my life.

So here I am. Writing about my life in the after, those who have lost a loved one know all about the measure of time called the before and the after. Why am I here? Why Notes for Nova? I am here to write about it all. To prove to my daughter, Nova-Mae, that I will continue to find the beauty in life and that you have to make your own happiness. To write about the bad days and the good days and how I will always do my best to make it through for myself and for her. To share my story in the hopes that one day it will inspire her and hopefully inspire you who may be reading parts of it.

I used to be a very private person. Yet here I am sharing so much. Death teaches you many a thing. Losing the person, your person, who you planned on spending the rest of your life with changes you in ways you never imagined and I hope that none of you ever have to imagine. I choose to share my journey for my daughter, for myself and for you. Whether you have lost someone and it helps to know you are not alone or whether you have stumbled upon my words not having endured the grief of loss, I hope that I may convey to you a little bit about life from a different perspective.

Life is about love. Never be afraid to love with all that you are. Grief is the price we pay for love. I will pay that price over and over to have truly loved.

Life is hard but it is also beautiful. Despite the pain and the hurt there is laughter and joy. I will prove to my daughter that life is worth living and living well and that to love completely is what it is all about.

This is for you, my darling daughter.

This is for you, dear reader, to share in my story and tell me yours.

And finally this is for me too, because life is too short to not share who we truly are.