A YOUNG WIDOW'S GRIEF JOURNAL In early grief, my only question was how to stop the pain. There were times I thought I was crazy and the only proof I had otherwise was a handful of widow friends. Later, I worried how long past the traditional mourning deadline the grief would last. Grief has been a non-linear journey that no longer overwhelms me yet has become a part of who I am. To view chronologically, see ‘labels’ by year
Thursday, May 5, 2011
7 Years, 1 Month - Advice for the Newly Berieved
What do I say to an old friend when she tells me her husband has died? My chest clinches. I still do not know the right words but I feel the pain hit me in the chest. What do I say the first day? It is too early to say most of what I would say. Do I tell her one of the best things that I was told? No, it is too soon to tell her it will get worse, much worse, before it gets better. What do I say when everyone has driven away and she says tonight will be the first night I sleep alone? Do I tell her it will be sleepless? Will she too wake up on his side of the bed, as she moved closer and closer, searching in her sleep for what was no longer there? It is to soon to tell her that she will grieve longer than is comfortable for other people in her life. It is to soon to tell her that her children will grieve too and it will break her heart. He has only been gone a few days. Do I tell her the longing sets in after the usual time you spend apart, say a work day? Do I tell her the longing aches after the time passes that is the longest time they have ever been apart? When do I tell her, that the ache deepens into a need that intensifies without satisfaction as the time becomes double the time you spent apart. How do I explain such a need, such a longing that you carry all day as your hunger turns to starvation? I cry. Not because I knew him so well but because I can envision her suffering and cannot stop it. She will walk through the fire alone.
Friday, April 29, 2011
7 Years and a few days
The 7 year anniversary came and went. I called his sister and his dad. I tried to go visit the neighborhoods where we lived in the beginning. I ended up lost. You can't go home again if you can not find it, even with GPS. I have been thinking and dreaming a lot about all the people I have lost, all my loves and my mom.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
5 Years - 9 months
It is nearing the six-year death anniversary. Recently I started a blog as a means to organize my earlier journal entries. For a period, my only question was how to stop the pain. There were times I thought I was crazy and the only proof I had otherwise was a handful of other young widows that felt the same way. I finally reached a point where I worried how long past the traditional mourning deadline the grief would last.
Blogging my journal reminds me of how much I have healed. My continued friendship with widows refreshes my soul, as they are my true confidantes. Grief has been a non-linear journey that no longer overwhelms me yet has become a part of who I am. I hope others find in my blog the reassurances I received from that diversified group of young widows that met when our grief was visceral.
Blogging my journal reminds me of how much I have healed. My continued friendship with widows refreshes my soul, as they are my true confidantes. Grief has been a non-linear journey that no longer overwhelms me yet has become a part of who I am. I hope others find in my blog the reassurances I received from that diversified group of young widows that met when our grief was visceral.
Monday, January 10, 2011
6 Years, 9 months
There have been so many changes in my life trending negatively. Always in the background is wishing for you. You to hold me, you to tell me it will be alright, you to help me make decisions, you, who would have never let these things happen to me, to us.
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