Byrd is dead. Writing blog posts seems so trivial and pointless right now. But then, all I ever knew of Byrd was from her blog and online comments. She was present in my life through her words.

Lately, I've been thinking about personal relationships. I think eventually you get to a point in your life when you don't really "need" anything from your partner, friends or family members, and they don't need anything from you. You're not dependent on one another for validation, economic support, a sense of identity or even companionship.

You still love them, of course. You wouldn't want to live without them. But you could if you had to.

We're all on separate journeys with our own unique set of unwritten instructions. We're all arriving and leaving on unpredictable schedules. Our lives intersect for reasons we can't know.

Maybe the only thing you can "do" for someone -- and the only thing they can "do" for you -- is bear witness.

Bear witness to one another's very specific suffering and joy. Bear witness to one another's struggles and triumphs, large and small, but mostly small. Be able to affirm: This person lived. We were here together for a time. This person mattered to me.

Byrd was brave for putting verbal snapshots of herself online. She allowed people who would otherwise be strangers to witness her life.

She mattered to me.