Our first official family dinner took place on Katie’s birthday. It only seemed right to remember her while we expanded our family, and everyone came to celebrate and process together. Kelly, Jason, TJ, Mom, Ray, Jasmine, and I all sat around the new table in TJ’s dining room.

Everyone shared their favorite stories of Katie, but we didn’t just live in the past with our conversations; we also looked to the future. We planned for tomorrow, because we were no longer trapped behind the bars of yesterday.

True freedom came once you learned the final stage of grief: acceptance.

I’d never thought I’d make it there, and I never thought I’d understand what true acceptance meant. It didn’t mean just coming to terms with the tragedy that rocked your world sideways. It didn’t mean tossing all that pain to the side.

It meant accepting a new form of happiness. It meant allowing yourself to cry, yet also being so joyful that you sometimes thought your heart would explode.

True acceptance meant learning to live again.

I was so ready to live.

“I better start cleaning up—it’s getting pretty late,” Mom announced, standing up from the table.

“Wait, can I just say something really quick?” I asked. “While we’re all here?”

“Yes, of course, Elliott,” she said, sitting back down.

I stood up. “I just wanted you all to know that having you stand by me through the past several years is more than I deserved. You all mean the world to me, and I’m so thankful to have you in my life. You’ve stood by me through the darkest of times, so I was hoping to now finally have you stand by me during a moment of light.” I turned to Jasmine and reached out for her hand. As she placed hers in mine, I lowered myself down to one knee. “Jazz…”

Her eyes watered over. “Oh my God,” she muttered, her body shaking.

“When we were kids, you asked me what jazz meant to me, and my answer is still the same: jazz is the re-reminder that whenever I’m alone, I’m not really alone. It’s my best friend when the world is hard. Jazz is beauty. It’s unique. It’s powerful without even trying.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small box.

“Eli,” she said breathlessly.

“You were, are, and will always be my Jazz. You are every beat, every note, every bar. You are the lyrics, the harmony, and the melody. You were, are, and always will be my favorite song.” I opened the box, revealing a key with an engagement ring tied to it. “So, I give you this. This is the key to my heart, and it’s yours for the keeping, but I just need you to know that my heart is rough sometimes. Sometimes it beats unevenly. Some days it’s battered and bruised, but I promise you, as long as my lungs rise and fall, as long as I am here, this heart of mine will beat for you. I will give my all to you, each and every day of my life. So please, Jazz…” I moved closer, placing my forehead against hers. “Marry me?”

Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Is that a question?” she whispered.

“Yes”—I nodded my head—“and all you have to do is say yes. So please…say yes?”

She placed her hands behind my neck, pulling me closer as her lips pressed against mine. “Yes.”

With one word spoken, the whole house celebrated. That celebration was the beginning of a new life, not only for Jasmine and me, but for all of us. We were crafting a new song, with new lyrics, leaving the albums of the past behind us.

But we were fully aware that if we ever needed a reminder of our past, those songs were always stored in our hearts and our minds, ready and available for a replay.

After dinner, I walked outside and sat on TJ’s porch, staring across the street at my childhood home. TJ’s front door creaked open behind me and Jasmine appeared. She walked my way and sat beside me. Her head fell on my shoulder, and she stared across the street with me.

“Happy?” she asked.

“Happiest,” I replied.

“You’re my favorite sound,” she whispered. Her doe eyes looked up at me, and a small smile found her lips. “You’ve always been my favorite sound.”

For the first time in forever, I was finally able to step out from behind the bars of my past. I was learning how to stand on both feet, I was learning how to walk again. I could feel the light coming back to me, filling me up with hope, with love, with happy endings.

I’d spent six years locked in a cage, and Jasmine Greene was the key to my freedom.

She was my music, my life, my everything. When our love blended together, it produced the most beautiful sounds. When our love blended together, two songs became one.

I placed my lips against hers and gently whispered my greatest truth, “You are beautiful.”