Loss
of a loved one,
a family member,
is a stark
reality
of life.
There is
no way out.
Anticipating
a loved one’s death
offers no
preparation.
Expectation,
no matter
how long,
does not
offer
a roadmap.
Once the rituals
whatever they are
have ended,
each of us
are
on our own.
Friends may console,
prayers said,
but in each moment
reminders
present
the harshness
of raw
physical,
emotional,
spiritual
change.
When
tears wet
my eyes
or sobs
move my
body,
it is a relief.
Pent-up
emotions
erupt
on grief’s
own schedule.
There is no
measurement
of the tears, the sadness.
The shadows
linger.
“Are you over it yet?”
a friend was asked
six weeks after her husband died.
There should be
no expectation
or impatience
with someone’s
time of
mourning.
There may be
stages,
but each person
marks their own.
There may be
light
with the shadows.
Sometimes.
A smell,
a glimpse
of someone who
reminds of
the loved one.
The depth and length
of grief
may
reflect the
intensity
of love
between
the
one
who has died
and those
left to mourn.
Life
Death.
Kindness.
Please.
Living Lines Moment by Moment 