God, this evokes a lot of feelings. The last paragraph is a particularly powerful coda.

Also, I don't know if it was intended, but I like the... I don't know, the framing? The first and last paragraphs are on a similar theme to each other (with similar motifs), as are the second and second-to-last, and the third and third-to-last. I can't remember what the term is for that, but it's a very pretty contrast to the tragedy of it all.