We all grieve so differently some find comfort in solitude; to others it’s a sense of community. Silence gives some of us a way to deal with our emotions while others need to verbally expel the pain. I’m not sure if there is a right way to grieve. I know that even when we find ourselves dealing with the exact same loss the differences in the experience can be astronomical. We cannot pull grief out of our pocket and try to compare it to someone else’s. The jagged and torn corners will not fit together no matter how we force them. Perhaps the greatest gift we can give someone’s grief is acceptance, choosing to see the beauty in the difference, holding it even though it is damp with endless tears and crimson stained with pain. Understanding the way we each fold and carry it differently, knowing its there when we choose not to show it and deeply respecting it when we do.


No greater burden can be borne by an individual than to know that no one cares or understands. Aurthur H. Stainback