It was eating him from the inside out.

Four years of a privately waged battle

that we knew nothing about,

watching speculations and gossip

fly about as his physicality drained

from him right in front of us.

Still, he remained silent.

And the world talked.

Like it typically does.

It filled in blanks that it created for itself,

giving itself answers without stopping to

consider his truth.

His truth was his to hold,

not ours to devour.

When Friday happened,

the world gasped.

Then our hearts broke.

He gave himself to us in the roles he chose,

he spoke to us in that speech he gave at Howard,

all of us.

He did not let this define him.

We know the face he gave us,

we do not know his private anguish.

We can only hope he knew

what he meant to us,

what he represented for and to us.

May our King rest in power.

Chadwick forever.