sunday scaries: grief

grief does not change you; it reveals you

i have been thinking a lot about grief lately. i lost someone i loved last month and a close friend lost her son a few months ago. in my life, i have lost too many people i care about. to disease, to addiction, to drunk driving, to suicide. there are so many ways to lose someone, and all of them present their own challenges and hardships as you try to grapple with your new normal.

i have been having lots of talks with my friend as she experiences each new first without her son and the unrelenting anger she has. i know that anger well. it is easy to cling to and keeps you warm when everything else around you feels so cold. as soon as you let it slip, the creeping chill of reality sets in. it is much easier to feel cradled in anger’s arms than start to fully accept that the person you still love so deeply will never be around again.

death is obviously the most permanent way to lose someone but i have been thinking about all the ways and things we grieve as a part of the human experience…