Say You Won't Let Go

Chapter 9: The Afterword

 It was a few months later. Now it was summer. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and it was now warm outside. Everything was okay; for the most part. We all tried not to think about Jethro but we did anyhow. We never imagined a life without him and now it was reality.

His NCIS team wasn't functioning great without him either. We all just took one day at a time. I do still have my times. None of us have accepted his death. We just couldn't believe that he was dead. We take many people in our lives for granted and he was one of them.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Where should I start? He was a great man. Well, my father was always there when anyone needed him. He took it upon himself to make sure every member of his NCIS team was okay even if he wasn't. He made sure I was okay even if he wasn't. He made sure everyone was emotionally, socially, and physically okay before he focused on himself. If you never have met him, you wouldn't have known how kind he was.
Honestly, he took his time opening up to me and his now wife, Jacqueline Sloane. He always hid his emotions and never confronted them. The only time I ever saw him do it was when he proposed to Jack. He made an impact on all who knew him, even those he had never met. I never could imagine a life without him but now I'm living the reality of it.

I don't know what I'd look like, feel like, or be like if I'd never met him. I probably would've never known he was my birth father if I hadn't followed my gut feeling; you know the famous "Gibbs gut feeling". If I hadn't followed my gut while I was on that case, 'The Case of The Missing Alakazam' to be exact, I never would've met THE Leroy Jethro Gibbs. I always felt like there was a part missing from me before I met him. It felt filled once I did. Now he leaves an empty space in my heart and it'll forever be there. But I'm glad I knew him. I love you, Dad, I had said at Jethro's marine funeral. I cried too.

I realized that I've never felt more pain in my life. Life is short so fill it with greatness and that's what he did. You shouldn't take the time you spend with them for granted. Cherish those memories you have with them. The most pain you'll ever feel is losing a family member and you won't stop being in pain, ever. They're gone, forever. You won't ever see them again. You won't ever talk to them again. You won't ever hear their voice again. They're gone. And you won't ever get them back.