“What if people think I’m crazy?” “What if they think I sound ‘woo-woo’ and won’t understand?” “What if no one has had an experience like mine?” “What if it was all in my head?” “What if I’m wrong to feel resentment…relief…anger…happiness…?” “What if I’m getting grief wrong? Doing it wrong?” “What if I’m not ‘recovering’…
Tag: grief
“Handling It Well” and Other Lies We Tell
“Handling It Well” I don’t know if it is a universal saying or one particular to the American South, but it is one I hear a lot. When two people have a common acquaintance and that friend has lost a loved one, they often will employ this phrase: “handling it well.” The conversation goes something…
Holidays and Sneaky Grief
Holidays and Sneaky Grief When I was a little girl, our neighbor and bonus grandmother Bernice cooked a huge dinner for her closest friends. For years we attended this dinner and I remember seeing her wearing an old fashioned apron and her classically immovable hair. I thought it was so fancy that she slept on…
The things people say…
“What DO you say to someone who has just lost a loved one?” This week I had the pleasure of visiting another book club, which consistently yield excellent conversation. Again questions like this came up in conversation with some of the members as well as laments at what people have said to them in times…
I am grief.
Every week, our yoga instructor encourages us to consider choosing a focus for our practice, suggesting such things as joy and calm. This morning one word came to mind and insisted on staying: grief. It is my honor to hear people’s experiences with grief as I visit groups and organizations to talk about my book,…
Wellness, Death, Blame, and Control
Yesterday I had a wonderful visit with two women I love and respect. We gathered to talk about forming a study group around my book, Phe, but ended up discussing all manner of things. One of them works as a physical therapist, who has done wonders for my own shoulder issues, and shared with us…
Grief and Gratitude
I packed up a student’s belongings yesterday. He was one of our gap year students, meaning he has a high school degree already from his home country and was with us simply for an American experience before heading off to college back home. I pulled his clothes off their hangers, folding them neatly to go…
Prayerful Kitchen 