Iowa State University student, and authorities have now confirmed that a body that was found in Iowa City is that of Tong Shao. She was last seen in Iowa City September 8th. Police are not saying how she died. She will be remembered as a young girl who had been loved, cared for by her friends and family.
Former University of Iowa student, 24-year-old Xiang Yan Li, will spend the rest of his life in a Chinese prison for killing his girlfriend. The trunk finally gets opened after days of waiting for a warrant. And yeah, the smell hits from a distance. Inside, there’s a suitcase. When they unzip it, it becomes clear almost instantly.
It’s the body of a 19-year-old college student, Tong Shao. Her head is wrapped in a blood-soaked towel. Right next to her, a dumbbell. The level of decomposition is so severe that, um, it’s really hard to pinpoint the exact time of death. But investigators quickly determine what happened. She suffocated after being beaten, forced inside while she was still alive.
The car had been sitting under a tree for weeks. No one paid attention. No one thought twice about it. A few days before that, Tong had texted her friends saying she was heading to another city. She said she borrowed a phone and would be back in about a week. That message was a lie. No one ever saw her again after that trip to the motel with the man she was already planning to leave.
Inside the room, they find small blood splatters. Not a lot, but enough. Security cameras show him buying a suitcase, then later dumbbells. The same exact items that would eventually be found with her body. While police are still trying to piece together the timeline, he’s already leaving the country. And then, one detail changes everything.
A conversation he overheard by accident. A conversation that, like, pushed him to act. Hey guys, I’ll just take a minute of your time real quick. I’m honestly really curious where my audience is watching from, so I want to ask you, what city are you in right now, and what time is it for you? Thanks so much for your attention.
I really appreciate it. Drop it in the comments, and yeah, let’s keep going. 19-year-old Tong Shao was born in the busy coastal city of Dalian in northeastern China, a place with a population of just over 6 million people. She was the only child of Chang Zeng and Yang Shu, and the three of them were like incredibly close.
Her parents worked really hard, and from a young age, Tong showed a lot of promise. She was both creative and artistic, but also super analytical and academically strong. She played the piano, danced, and dreamed of one day becoming either a biologist or a sculptor. But honestly, as her friends and family would say, she could have achieved anything she set her mind to.
She was accepted into Dalian Yuming Senior High School, which is considered one of the top schools in the city. Over the years, the school built a strong reputation for students who score at the highest level on university entrance exams known as Gaokao. Students who consistently perform at an outstanding level and receive special recognition can actually get into university without even taking that exam.
And while her boyfriend at the time earned a spot at a prestigious university in China, Tong, unfortunately, didn’t. Naturally, she was really upset. She had worked so hard for this, and suddenly her future felt completely uncertain. She had to rethink everything, where to apply, what to study. And it also meant the end of her relationship at the time.
So, she decided to take a huge step, like, way outside her comfort zone. She planned to move to the United States and enroll at Iowa State University to study chemical engineering. Her parents fully supported her. They gave everything they had, their entire savings, the equivalent of $100,000 to help her make that move.
She still had a few requirements left, including taking the English as a foreign language exam in July 2011 in Beijing. While preparing for that exam, Tong met Xian Li, who was also studying English. He was planning to move to the US, too, to the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. They connected really quickly and had a lot in common, especially since they were both getting ready for such a big move to the same country at the same time.
Not long after, Tong’s parents met Li. They said that while he seemed polite, shy, and quiet, they didn’t think the relationship had long-term potential. Some others felt the same way, but Tong reassured everyone that there was nothing serious or official between them. It was all pretty casual. In September 2012, Tong finally enrolled at Iowa State University, where she immediately stood out for her strong academic performance and how actively she got involved in student life.
Her friend later said that when Tong wasn’t studying, she filled her time with dancing, hanging out at parties, and even teaching Chinese to other students. She made friends easily and was especially close with the girl she lived with. Tong was the oldest of the three roommates, but they all called her little sister because she was the shortest, about 157 cm tall.
Her roommate and best friend, John, said Tong was so smart it could actually be a little annoying. She was always saying she needed to study more, but still consistently got the highest grades and stayed at the top of her class. She kept in touch with Li long distance, but then, he made a pretty unexpected decision.
He said he couldn’t handle the distance anymore, almost 1,000 miles, and requested a transfer to Iowa State University. The problem was, he didn’t have a place to stay yet, and his classes weren’t starting right away. So, he temporarily moved in with Tong and her roommates. At first, they said they didn’t mind, but later, they admitted it was actually uncomfortable living with him.
He didn’t talk much, didn’t try to connect with them, and didn’t help around the apartment, just left a mess behind. He also didn’t like when Tong spent time outside without him. He constantly wanted to know where she was and who she was with. Tong still insisted they weren’t officially together, and she was getting more and more tired of his controlling behavior.
By this point, she had been studying for about 2 years, and overall, >> >> things were going pretty well for her. To her roommates’ relief, Li eventually moved into his own apartment and officially started his classes. But Tong kept distancing herself from him.
She told people she wanted to end things for good and move on. More issues came up when Li got pulled over for a traffic violation and gave Tong’s address as his own. That made things even more tense between him, Tong, and her roommates to the point where they didn’t even want to hear his name anymore and didn’t want him coming over at all.
On September 3rd, 2014, Tong spoke with a friend, someone she had recently started getting closer to. They had been talking for a while, and, um, feelings were starting to grow between them. And she said, My connection with Li is just causing problems. I haven’t felt happy in a long time.
But she already had a trip planned with Li to a motel that weekend. She explained that she’d go, and then once she got back, she would finally deal with everything and end it for good. And honestly, even at that point, it was pretty clear they were most likely going to break up. Four days later, on the evening of September 7th, her dad sent her a message.
She had told him earlier that she was trying to replace the glasses she lost, so he texted to check if she’d managed to do it. The reply he got was short and kind of cold. She said she had borrowed a pair from a friend. He suggested they do a video call. It had been a while since they talked face-to-face, but she just said she was busy.
The whole exchange felt off. It didn’t sound like her, and, yeah, he was a little upset that the conversation ended so quickly. Later that night, one of her roommates also received a message, but this time from Li’s phone at around 1:30 in the morning. And it said, Hey, I’m still in Iowa City, but I lost my phone, so I’m using Li’s.
He’s dealing with a family emergency, and he might have to fly back to China today, so I’m going to take a bus to Minnesota to visit some friends there. I’ll be back in about a week. I’ll take Li’s phone with me, but it’s almost out of battery. On Monday, September 8th, 2014, when morning came, people were surprised that Tong hadn’t come home, especially since she had classes that day.
That surprise quickly turned into concern. And when a few more days passed and she still hadn’t reached out to anyone, her friends and roommates decided to come together and figure out if anyone had seen or spoken to her over the past week. But no one had. And none of her contacts online had heard from her, either.
Her roommate, Jean, reached out through social media to a few people in Minnesota, but that didn’t lead anywhere. They said that unless they had somehow missed her in the city, she never showed up there at all. On September 18th, with this growing sense that something just wasn’t right, her roommates officially reported her missing.
At first, police considered the possibility that Tong might have gotten homesick and gone back to her parents. That’s not uncommon, especially for international students. But pretty quickly, it became clear that wasn’t the case. There was no evidence that she had left the country, and there was also no proof that she ever got on a bus to Minnesota.
Detectives tracked down the student she had recently started getting close to, but he didn’t know anything, either. Their relationship was just beginning, and he admitted he didn’t know her well enough yet to realize that this kind of behavior was completely out of character for her, which is why he hadn’t reported anything sooner.
At the same time, >> >> he was able to provide an alibi, and it checked out. Students and local residents started spreading missing person flyers and posting on social media. Tong’s disappearance really shook the university and the whole community. After analyzing her card transactions and using information from her roommates, investigators confirmed that Tong and Li had gone to the Budget Inn and Suites Motel and checked into room 218 on September 5th, just like they had planned.
The motel owner, Ken, confirmed this. He actually knew the couple pretty well and said they had stayed there before, >> >> so nothing about that weekend seemed unusual. On September 6th, Ken said he saw Tong walking around the property alone near the lobby. The couple was also caught on surveillance cameras at a gas station buying a few bottles of water.
Nothing looked suspicious. No sign that anyone was following them or entering with them. But on the morning of Sunday, September 7th, Ken noticed that Tong’s car was gone and the room was empty. It looked like they had left early that morning, but neither of them had officially checked out.
The motel had security cameras, but unfortunately, there had been a system failure, so there was no footage of them leaving. >> >> Ken mentioned that leaving early isn’t unusual by itself, but this couple usually did the opposite. They tended to stay late and sometimes even had to be asked to check out.
So, yeah, it was a little strange that he never saw them leave. Investigators searched Tong’s apartment and found paperwork for a car she had purchased, which helped them identify the license plate. They shared the car’s make, model, and plate number with other police units in the area hoping to get any kind of lead. Search warrants were obtained for both Li’s apartment and the motel room.
Li’s apartment was a complete mess, things scattered everywhere. It looked like he had packed up some of his belongings in a hurry. In the motel room, investigators found very small dark stains on the walls and the headboard of the bed. But without clear evidence that a crime had occurred there, getting approval to collect samples and run forensic testing wasn’t easy and it took time.
And there was another issue, other people had already stayed in that room after Li and Tong. Investigators also looked into Li’s phone records. If the phone had really been with Tong, it could have helped track her movements. Between September 5th and September 8th, there were multiple calls made to someone named Paul.
Most of them came from Ames, Iowa and none from Minnesota. One call really stood out. It was made all the way from China. They had that message claiming Li had gone to China, but that didn’t line up with the idea that Tong had his phone. The message sent to Tong’s friends saying she was still in Iowa City was actually sent when the phone was located in Chicago.
And it was confirmed that Li really was in Chicago at that time during a flight layover that ended up being delayed. Not wanting to wait in Chicago, he traveled to Los Angeles and from there, he flew to China. So, yeah, it became clear that the phone had stayed with Li, not Tong. Paul, the man who received all those calls, agreed to speak with police.
He said Li had asked him for help buying a ticket to China. Paul was surprised he knew Li had classes, but Li told him it was an emergency and didn’t give any details. Paul even asked if he needed a return ticket >> >> and Li said no. At that point, investigators understood something bad had happened to Tong and Li officially became the main person of interest.
On September 26th, 2014, a report came in. Tong’s car, a 1997 Toyota Camry, had been found. It was parked under a tree near a residential area not far from Iowa City. One of those buildings was connected to Li. Residents said the car had been sitting there for weeks >> >> and there was a strong disturbing smell coming from it.
Police had to wait for a warrant to open the car, but the odor coming from inside, yeah, they recognized it immediately. When they finally opened the trunk, they saw a suitcase and the smell got even stronger. Inside the suitcase was a body already in an advanced state of decomposition. There was also a dumbbell inside and the head had been wrapped in a blood-soaked towel.
At this point, we’re not going to know for sure until we can do the autopsy. We’re certainly uh the time we spent looking for the vehicle took some time to figure out, you know, what vehicle uh we were looking for. So, unfortunately, it had to be this way. Even though forensic testing still needed to be done, they already knew this was Tong Shao.
an Iowa State University student, an autopsy has now confirmed that a body that was found in Iowa City is that of Tong Shao. She was last seen in Iowa City September 8th. Police are not saying how she died. Tong Shao’s body was found in the trunk of her own vehicle on Friday. Iowa City police now say they are looking for a person of interest identified as 23-year-old Xiangnan Li, a Chinese international student at the University of Iowa.
The Iowa City Police Department believes that Li has returned to China now, but are still awaiting official confirmation. Later, it was determined that the cause of death was asphyxiation along with blunt force trauma. The exact time of death couldn’t be established, but investigators believed she likely survived the initial beating and then suffocated after being forced into the suitcase inside the car.
Inside the vehicle, they also found documents belonging to Li that confirmed his flight to China and Tong’s phone shattered was sitting on the driver’s seat. Once it became absolutely clear that Tong had died, investigators returned to the motel this time with forensic specialists.
The blood-stained towel wrapped around her head was traced back to the motel room. Using Luminol, forensic teams were also able to detect traces of blood on some of the furniture. And then surveillance footage showed Li inside a T.J. Maxx store buying the exact same suitcase that Tong would later be found in.
He spent a long time walking around the store comparing sizes and like rolling the suitcases back and forth trying to pick the right one. He also bought two dumbbells at Walmart, just normal everyday items that wouldn’t raise any suspicion on their own. But later, one of them was found inside the suitcase and that detail suddenly took on a completely different meaning.
It started to look like part of a plan, like something that was meant to play a role in covering up what happened. This wasn’t random. It fit into a bigger picture where every move Li made was like slowly connecting into one chain. What might have seemed like a small insignificant purchase at first now looked calculated, cold, intentional.
And even with all this evidence, with the timeline coming together piece by piece, the motive was still unclear. At the center of it all was one question, what actually triggered this? They had just gone away for the weekend, a normal trip, nothing unusual, nothing that would make anyone think something was about to go horribly wrong.
And then, within a day, everything changed completely. That contrast between how ordinary it seemed and what it led to made the whole thing feel even more unsettling. But soon after, investigators spoke with someone who shared information that seriously changed the direction of the case. What this person revealed added a missing piece, the one detail that finally started to explain what until then had felt confusing and almost impossible to understand.
Very few dry eyes here tonight for this is somber ceremony as dozens of friends and fellow ISU students gather here on the south lawn on campus to honor Tong. She will be remembered as a young girl who had been loved, cared for by her friends and family. It is an honor to be able to work with >> [snorts] >> international students like Tong.
James Dorsett has lost two international students in his 20 years as director of the program. He gave a heartfelt eulogy and it wasn’t long before he was overwhelmed by the memories of Tong and their very first conversation. I tell myself that every time I [snorts] go to the mall, when I see a Dippin’ Dots ice cream place, I will remember her.
And one day, >> [snorts] >> perhaps, when I have the courage to face my emotions, I will try the ice cream and keep my promise to her. Tong’s closest friend said it was still too soon to speak out about their beloved fellow Cyclone. I smile every time when I think of seeing Tong for the first time.
And the final speaker this evening was a friend of Tong’s family, a friend of her father, who traveled all the way from Virginia not only to pay her own final respects here at the memorial service tonight, but also to express deep gratitude on behalf of Tong’s family for everyone in attendance tonight. One of the calls Li made in the days when Tong was last seen was to someone named Karen and it lasted for over 3 hours.
That’s a long time even for a normal conversation. So, yeah, it immediately caught investigators’ attention. They tracked Karen down trying to understand exactly what was said going over every detail minute by minute looking for anything that might matter. And then something really important came out.
The conversation Tong had on September 3rd, the one where she opened up to her friend about wanting to end things with Li and move on, it wasn’t actually private. It had been overheard. Li later said that he called her right in the middle of that conversation and she accidentally answered without realizing it. The line stayed open.
He didn’t say a word. He just listened for about 30 minutes quietly taking in everything. Her doubts, her decision, her plans to leave him, all of it. Investigators said that after that, his emotional state clearly shifted. He was angry, upset, something changed. Not long after, he posted a short message on social media, “Damn my life.
” It might seem small, but it felt like a release, Like pressure building up and finally breaking through. And when you look at that along with everything that happened next, it became clear this wasn’t random. This was planned. Every detail pointed to intention. Investigators believe the dumbbell found in the suitcase was part of that plan.
Their theory was that Li intended to dump the suitcase into a river so it would sink under the weight hiding the body and making it much harder to find. A cold, calculated move. Phone data added another piece to the puzzle. Between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning, Li was near the Skunk River. That matched what investigators suspected that this was where he planned to get rid of the suitcase.
But when detectives went to the river, they noticed something right away. The water was too shallow. Like way too shallow. Even with extra weight, the suitcase probably wouldn’t have fully submerged. And that likely explains why he didn’t go through with it. Instead, he left the suitcase in the car, almost like he postponed the decision or just didn’t want to take the risk.
By that point, investigators had reconstructed a clear timeline of events. After overhearing Tong’s conversation, Li went into a state of rage and then started carrying out his plan. Step by step. No rush, but very deliberate. On September 5th, just like they had planned, the two of them checked into the Budget Inn and Suites.
On the surface, it looked completely normal. But it was already part of something much darker. On September 6th, Li made those purchases, the ones that would later be seen as preparation. And that same night, he booked a one-way ticket to China. That was the last day Tong was seen alive. On September 7th, after the murder, Li went back to his apartment to pack.
His actions were quick, focused. He was getting ready to leave the country. He drove around the city, apparently considering whether to dump the suitcase in the Skunk River. But in the end, he didn’t. He left it in the car. After that, he started using Tong’s phone, pretending to be her. He texted her friends, even her father, trying to make it seem like everything was fine, buying himself time.
It was calculated, cold. On September 8th, Li was already in Chicago. From there, he bought a ticket to Los Angeles, continuing his escape. And the next day, he flew to China, basically disappearing from the reach of US law enforcement. It wasn’t until March 2015 that a warrant was finally issued for his arrest.
But by then, he was already gone. And that created a huge problem. There’s no extradition treaty between China and the United States, which meant one thing, there was a real possibility he might never be brought to justice. And that uncertainty only made the whole case even more intense.
World away, this case is on the minds of many and making headlines in Chinese culture. I spoke with a professor tonight studying Chinese culture. He says um that he there’s even if there’s enough public outcry over there about this case, he says that could potentially bring the person of interest, who is Xiangdong Li, back here to American soil.
Girl’s family, for instance, um if if the parents want to seek justice, and they they may use public opinion on the internet to press the government to cooperate with the United States. Okay, then before he became president of the World Food Prize, Dr. Kenneth Quinn was ambassador to Cambodia and worked for the US State Department for over 30 years.
He says the willingness of the Chinese to help find and hold Li for questioning might come down to one word, reciprocity, as in if we help you, what will you do for us? So if it’s a question of are we going to give in to this American demand and hand over one of our citizens? Well, the answer to that is no, because they it’s not reciprocated.
I think the Chinese would not be interested in protecting a murderer. This is their their citizen that has been killed in another country. They will certainly want to have that resolved. Ambassador Quinn says one possible scenario could be the Chinese requesting to run this case through their own legal system since the person of interest and the victim are both their citizens.
He says he doubts the Chinese would just turn Li over to the US, but as you heard Quinn say, there could be some diplomatic solutions, more informal ideas where both governments agree to something beneficial for both sides. Detective Gonzalez, who was leading the investigation, was determined from the very beginning to see this case all the way through and bring justice to Tong and her family.
For him, this wasn’t just another case. Behind all the reports and paperwork, there was a real life that had been cut short and a family left behind with pain that doesn’t just go away. He worked methodically and relentlessly, carefully putting together every detail, checking every fact, not letting even the smallest thing slip through the cracks.
His job demanded patience, precision, and a clear head. But more than anything, he had a purpose to make sure the case didn’t fall apart and to bring it to a proper conclusion. There was no room for rushing, no room for mistakes. Every step mattered. Every decision could affect the outcome. And that’s why Gonzalez stayed focused, keeping his eyes on what really mattered, justice for someone who could no longer fight for it herself.
The one thing I want to make clear is this, if something this horrific happens to you, we’re not going to stop, no matter what. I don’t care where you’re from or what country you run to, we will find you. Together with the Iowa State Prosecutor, he reached out to Chinese authorities in the embassy, knowing that without international cooperation, this case could easily hit a dead end.
It was a tense move, full of uncertainty. The outcome depended on decisions being made thousands of miles away. And like to their relief, China agreed to help, quickly, decisively. Chinese authorities announced that they would locate Li and arrest him on their territory. Soon after, an official statement was released and the case instantly went beyond a local investigation.
It became national news across China. Information spread fast. People on social media started sharing Li’s photos everywhere. His face was suddenly all over thousands of feeds and the hashtag find Li went viral. The discussions didn’t stop. The pressure kept building and it started to feel like there was no way he could escape accountability anymore.
In May 2015, Li, who had been hiding in Wenzhou, realized there was no way out. And he turned himself in. He was taken into custody and just like that, his time on the run was over. Chinese authorities requested all the case materials from investigators in Iowa in order to officially transfer the case to China.
That meant every piece of evidence, every statement, every document had to be carefully handed over. >> >> In June, Li was formally arrested and his case was sent to court on charges of intentional homicide. About a year later, he pleaded guilty. He claimed he had acted irrationally, impulsively, trying to explain his actions as emotions that got out of control.
According to him, Tong attacked him first and he killed her in what he described as self-defense. But honestly, that explanation raised more questions than it answered. He denied any kind of premeditation, insisting he had already planned to return to China anyway and that everything else just like happened in one tragic moment.
He also said he was in love with Tong and devastated that she didn’t feel the same way. It sounded more like an attempt to explain, not justify. The trial lasted only 6 hours. 6 hours to decide someone’s fate. 6 hours to bring this case to an end. Tong’s parents were asked not to be present in the courtroom to spare them more pain.
But they couldn’t stay away. At one point, her mother, overwhelmed by emotion, rushed into the courtroom. She said her life had lost all meaning, that all she felt now was bitterness. Raw words, honest, no filter. You could feel the depth of her pain in every single one of them. Li’s parents met with Tong’s parents, apologized on behalf of their son, and agreed to pay compensation, 2 million yuan, which is about $300,000.
It was an attempt to make amends, but yeah, no amount of money could ever undo what had happened. The punishment for intentional murder could range from 10 years in prison to the death penalty depending on the circumstances and the court’s decision. Tong’s parents hoped for the harshest sentence possible.
They wanted justice in its most severe form. Her father said that in Chinese tradition, there’s a saying, “A murderer must pay for their crime with their own life.” In June 2016, Li was sentenced to life in prison, a verdict that, on paper, marked the end of his freedom and the court’s final answer to what he had done.
Under Chinese law, that kind of sentence can technically be reviewed in the future and reduced to 13 years if certain conditions are met. But even that possibility feels more like a distant maybe than anything guaranteed. Whether it will actually happen is still an open question. And honestly, after everything that happened, that detail just adds this lingering sense of unease, like the story, even with a verdict, still doesn’t feel completely finished.
A murder investigation that shocked Eastern Iowans and crossed international borders is a closed case tonight. Former University of Iowa student, 24-year-old Xiangdong Li, will spend the rest of his life in a Chinese prison for killing his girlfriend. He murdered >> The news hit Tong’s parents like a devastating blow, the kind that, honestly, just knocks the ground out from under you and shatters everything in a matter of moments.
The pain was so deep and so sudden that her father’s health took a serious turn for the worse. Doctors were genuinely concerned about his condition and strictly forbade him from making the long trip to the United States to bring his daughter’s ashes home. And that became yet another painful reality to face, knowing that even in this final goodbye, he couldn’t be there.
For the family, it wasn’t just loss. It was this overwhelming feeling of helplessness. When you can’t be present in the moment that matters most. The distance that once was just miles between countries suddenly became something much heavier, like a barrier that simply couldn’t be crossed. Investigators in Iowa later said this case became a precedent, a rare and telling example of cooperation between the United States and China in handling an international crime.
It required coordination, sharing evidence, working together across borders way beyond standard procedures. And the prosecutor added, I was very pleased with the outcome. Um, he received a sentence he would have received had he been convicted of the same offense in Iowa. And so it felt like justice was served in China the same way it would have been served in the United States.
Um, I felt that the the evidence was very strong in the case, so I wasn’t surprised at all at the outcome. Um, but was pleased that he wasn’t given a lesser sentence or frankly that he was given a harsher sentence of the death penalty because he would not have been subjected to that in Iowa. So, having him receive the same sentence he would have received in Iowa, I felt was appropriate.
Another reason this case spread so quickly and hit so hard is because 19-year-old Tong Shao wasn’t just a young girl. She was someone with real purpose, with inner strength, with this quiet but like undeniable determination to build something bigger for herself. She was focused, hard working, the kind of person who doesn’t just dream, but actually moves toward those dreams step by step.
She made the bold decision to leave everything familiar behind and move to the United States, >> >> a new country, a completely different reality where she basically had to start from scratch. And that wasn’t random. That was a choice. A choice to grow, to challenge herself, to make her family proud. She was succeeding in so many areas, pushing through difficulties, and everyone who knew her believed the same thing.
She had so much ahead of her, so many opportunities, so many wins still waiting. Her friends remember her as an incredibly warm and genuine person, someone who could lighten the mood with a single joke, make you laugh even when things felt heavy, support you without saying too much, and truly feel what you were going through. Being around her, people felt seen, heard, like they actually mattered.
To this day, her roommate Jean still carries a prayer book that Tong once gave her. She keeps it close not just as an object, but as something deeper, like a connection, like a memory she refuses to let go of. Inside, there’s a page marked the exact date of the last day she saw Tong. And every time she opens it, she goes right back to that moment, the one that’s now frozen in time.
And inside, it says, “Keep me focused on God and on the path ahead of me, even when it feels full of obstacles I can’t overcome. Remind me that I’m not walking alone, but alongside those who are trying to walk with you.” She says she finds a kind of comfort in it, quiet, almost impossible to fully grasp, but at the same time deep and constant.
It doesn’t come all at once. It kind of like slowly wraps around her like a familiar warm memory you just can’t let go of. And in those moments, she takes it as a sign, a silent reassurance that her close friend hasn’t truly disappeared. She believes she’s still there, not physically, but somewhere very close. Right on that edge where words stop and something deeper begins.
And it’s that thought, that almost invisible presence, that gives her the strength to keep going, even when everything around her feels too quiet and too empty.
