Good Grief

 Good Grief

*sigh*

Have you ever lost a tooth or had one pulled?

There is pain for a while, and as the wound seals up there is nothing. Just a hole where something used to be.

After a while, we don’t notice that there is nothing where they used to be something.

Until we do notice it. And there, where something used to be is a hole that feels funny, weird, wrong.

And we miss the thing that used to be there.

Grief is like that.

Someone has been forcibly removed from our presence and it HURTS.

But the empty place is still empty. Even after the pain is gone.

Until we notice the empty hole where we poured our love is just not there.

Grief is noticing that something’s missing.  Someone is missing. 

In the beginning we feel the pain of the forced separation and it makes us weep.

There is no shame in grieving. There is no shame in acknowledging that something is missing.

Weep until your eyes are dry. Feel the ache until it dissipates

Rage at the unfairness of love lost too soon.

*sigh*

We cannot live in the pain and rage.

We turn to each other for comfort.

We tell stories of our lost loved one and laugh.

As we laugh, we rediscover the joy that our loved one left with us.

The hole fills up with the love left behind

It grows as it is shared with those around us.

Out of our grief come the legends of our families and our communities.

Though unenjoyable, Grief is good.

Grief is good because it reminds us that we love and are loved.