I don’t think people understand the impact death has on a family- until it happens to them. I certainly didn’t. Looking back, it saddens me that I told my Dad, after two years of mourning my mother, “Dad, it’s been two years; maybe you should move on.” I’m embarrassed that I used to judge others, thinking, “If they know their spouse is in heaven, why are they dragging this emotional rollercoaster on and on? They will see them again “….and, funny, here I sit eating my words all these years later.
I read a meme this week that said, “Grief is the kind of pain you feel in your bones.” Blogger Hannah Gearth describes Grief this way, “Grief is so tricky. It doesn’t ever go away. We always carry it. It’s kind of like always having on a backpack that you can’t take off. Sometimes it is so light I almost forget I have it on-I can even pull out a little memory with a smile. But other times, like holidays or even when a certain song comes on, it feels like someone has filled it with rocks. It’s so heavy I don’t understand how I can carry it. But somehow, I do.”
Grief is all the things: love, anger, despair, love, anger, despair. Yes the repition of emotions is real. Grief is something else. It is sorrow but not for self-serving emotional platitudes and servitude. No, it is genuine sorrow that the deceased has missed all the good you’ve managed to figure out how to create despite circumstance.
Like the moon, grief waxes and wanes. It shines bright in our psyche in some seasons, and in other seasons, it’s a soft glow and gentle reminder of a beautiful landscape that was once our life. Like all things God creates, it is in His timing for His purpose, His glory, and we will probably never understand it this side of heaven.
Happy 4th heavenly birthday, Robin! I hope you are celebrated with pie, cake, trumpets and great fishing.
I don’t think people understand the impact death has on a family- until it happens to them. I certainly didn’t. Looking back, it saddens me that I told my Dad, after two years of mourning my mother, “Dad, it’s been two years; maybe you should move on.” I’m embarrassed that I used to judge others, thinking, “If they know their spouse is in heaven, why are they dragging this emotional rollercoaster on and on? They will see them again “….and, funny, here I sit eating my words all these years later.
I read a meme this week that said, “Grief is the kind of pain you feel in your bones.” Blogger Hannah Gearth describes Grief this way, “Grief is so tricky. It doesn’t ever go away. We always carry it. It’s kind of like always having on a backpack that you can’t take off. Sometimes it is so light I almost forget I have it on-I can even pull out a little memory with a smile. But other times, like holidays or even when a certain song comes on, it feels like someone has filled it with rocks. It’s so heavy I don’t understand how I can carry it. But somehow, I do.”
Grief is all the things: love, anger, despair, love, anger, despair. Yes the repition of emotions is real. Grief is something else. It is sorrow but not for self-serving emotional platitudes and servitude. No, it is genuine sorrow that the deceased has missed all the good you’ve managed to figure out how to create despite circumstance.
Like the moon, grief waxes and wanes. It shines bright in our psyche in some seasons, and in other seasons, it’s a soft glow and gentle reminder of a beautiful landscape that was once our life. Like all things God creates, it is in His timing for His purpose, His glory, and we will probably never understand it this side of heaven.
Happy 4th heavenly birthday, Robin! I hope you are celebrated with pie, cake, trumpets and great fishing.