Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was originally from the Chicago area, was one of the hostages who did not survive.
The 23-year-old from Chicago's north suburbs was one of the hundreds of people seized by militants at a music festival in southern Israel two years ago, on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israeli officials say he was one of six hostages murdered by Hamas, shot in the head at close range.
Goldberg-Polin's grandmother, Leah Polin, says family calls them the beautiful six.
"You see the outline of his body, and his arms were like yardsticks. They were so skinny," Polin said. "It's certain things, that I said, the Bible suddenly makes sense to me. And I'm torn. I'm very sad that Hersh isn't here, but thank God for the 20 or so families who can hug their relative and be joyful again."
As all 20 of the last living hostages held by Hamas were released, Polin remembers the last image she had of Hersh at his funeral, as she tries to find a way to move forward.
"There's no magic. And everybody is different. Everybody is different. I know that in my children, God bless them. They're on the move. They left you all over the world. And I think they're a source of comfort to other people," Polin said.
Other hostages who are still in the midst of healing are Judith and Natalie Raanan, a mother and daughter from Evanston, who were taken and then released by Hamas a few weeks after the attack.
In addition to the Hamas hostages being released, Palestinian prisoners are currently en route to Gaza.
For William Asfour, a Chicago-area Palestinian American, the hope for peace for his family abroad is still on fragile ground.
"This has taken a heavy toll on me. There's first cousins who I've lost, you know, neighbors who I've lost, elderly, women, children," Asfour said. "The house that I grew up in has been destroyed. My mom's childhood house destroyed."
Asfour shared a photo of one of the last times he saw his grandfather alive.
In addition to losing his grandfather and cousins, he still is waiting to hear about three other relatives still being held by Israel.
For him, the road to peace is fraught with fear for his family aboard.
"As long as my family on the ground is happy, as long as they feel safe, then that gives me some type of joy. But I will always remain skeptical as long as Israel still has its military occupation on Gaza and Palestine as a whole," Asfour said.
In Skokie, Jewish community members sang songs of joy with painful undertones of grief and loss outside a synagogue on Monday.
There, each of the living released hostages' names were read out loud, in celebration of their homecoming.
After all of the names were read, the community gathered around the "Forest of Hope," a tree containing the names of all the Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Children who helped create the installation cut down the names of hostages who were released, bringing a release of emotions for Scott Burgher and his family.
"This day is just been something we've been yearning for year after year now, and we're just so grateful to see this," Burgher said.
But the tears of joy shed were quickly met by pain over the immense loss for this Jewish community and their families.
"We feel joy and we feel sorrow and we feel hope and we feel pain but what we feel now is an incredible sense of community," said Chesed For Israel founder Naomi Sugar.
The ribbons left behind on this tree carry the names of those whose remains have yet to be returned.
Outside Am Shalom synagogue in Glencoe, a grouping of chairs representing each person taken hostage by militants during the attack on Israel two years ago has gotten smaller.
"To be able to move those 20 chairs, to know that they are home with their families now or in the hospital but on their way home filled us with joy," Rabbi Steven Stark Lowenstein said.
What remains on the front lawn are 28 chairs, representing hostages who are deceased, and whose bodies have not been released.
Lowenstein says there's both celebration and mourning.
"Families can't have funerals without bodies. Families can't begin the mourning process. They've been in limbo for two years," Lowenstein said.
Rabbi Art Hart of Skokie Valley synagogue says there lots of emotions to process going forward.
As a way to heal, Hart has asked the community to come together to release ribbons with names of the hostages that were tied to trees.
"A big part of our hearts has been thinking about, praying for and advocating for the hostages for two years," Hart said. "We are so overjoyed that the living hostages are home. We are heartbroken that many did not survive."
Some also worry that the ceasefire won't hold.