Breaking up is never easy

I caught up with my sister last night.
She's 23, and her four and a half year relationship with her live-in boyfriend has just come to an end.
It's a sad time for her and being so young and having been through such a long term relationship can be either a blessing or a curse.

I like to think of it as more of the former. She's got her whole life ahead of her. She knows, deep down, that she'll be okay, but not having been there before it's hard to see past the immediate short-term future.
But my words to her won't necessarily make it any easier.
It hurts me to see her in pain. I'd love to reach across to her, give her a big hug and absolve her from any hurt or pain but that's something I can't do.
I've been there before. I know the pain subsides, I know the hurt fades and I most certainly know that that old cliche, "there's plenty more fish in the sea" is as true as any other.

When I was in high school, I used to channel my break-up angst into writing song lyrics. It was a great way to put your feelings down on paper and you get the added bonus of getting your creative juices flowing. Recently, I found a book of lyrics that I had written during such a time.
Man, were they dark. It unsettled me a little knowing there was a time and I was in a place in which I felt that angsty.

At the end of the day, there's not a lot I can do for my sister other than be there for her. I can take her calls, catch up with her when she wants to and give her a shoulder to cry on - but she needs to find out for herself that there is life beyond the person you loved, the person you thought you knew, the person who was, for all intents and purposes, your best friend for a number of years.
And for me, that's the hardest thing about break ups.