Black Friday is taking on a whole new meaning at Days of Our Lives as news of Doug’s death spreads and virtually the whole town of Salem is sent into mourning. The returns for Bill Hayes’ send-off are just getting started, but today we get both Shawn and Hope back on our screens — two names we, at one point, thought might never happen.

But now they’re both back and Brandon Beemer is apparently keeping Shawn back in Salem for good. Hope’s return, though, isn’t set to be quite as permanent as she comes home to mourn her dad and support Julie through the loss. And as we’ve seen in the preview footage, it is going to be heartbreaking.

Even more tragic? Knowing what didn’t come before… but could have. Kristian Alfonso talked with Soap Opera Digest a bit about her last return and the big regret she has over how it went down.

“The story that was going to be told was that Hope would return to Salem, Bo and Hope would return to Salem to reunite,” she explained. “Even after the shooting, he would be fine, and all these good things were going to happen and we would reunite with our families.”

Things changed, though, the story resolution switched and instead Hope never actually made it home to Salem. That’s all well and good as far as storyline goes (especially since it looks like we’ll be getting to Bo and Hope’s happy ending this coming year) but on a personal level, that change will always sting.

As Alfonso told SOD, “I will never get over that I didn’t get the opportunity,” to tell the story in its original form. “I would have had scenes with Bill and Susan together as a family. So that, I am very sad about. The whole story idea was great and I was looking forward to it. But anyway, things changed and were out of our control. But that would have been joyful and super-fun to shoot.”

The good news is, Alfonso and Hope are very big parts of saying farewell to Doug. It will be her first return to Salem proper in four years. Both Beyond Salem: Part 2 and Bo’s resurrection all took place outside of the United States.

On top of that, the whole family is heading home — not just the veteran Hortons, but Hope’s kids, with Ciara coming back for the funeral along with Shawn. It’s not the joyful family reunion that it could have been, but it is at least bringing the family together in ways we haven’t seen in many, many years.

So as sad as it is that we never got that final reunion while Hayes was alive, at least we know the family is as strong as ever and Hope’s still as important to it as ever. And we know that even after we’re done with Doug’s farewell, Hope will be back — and the next time around, Bo will be with her!

When someone we love dies, it’s inevitable that we look back and mourn not just what we lost, but what we could have had and missed out on. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be more joy down the line. And while Days of Our Lives, Hope and the Horton/Williams family are weathering some dark times right now, the future, as we enter into the show’s 60th season, is still looking very, very bright.