Don't Take My Grief Away From Me. November 10th, 2022.

 I want to share something I read from my book today. I’ve been reading this for the grief support group I’ve been attending now for a few months. It’s helped me discover a lot about myself and I appreciate the connection I’ve made with others.

“There is no good explanation for why some folks feel safe and others do not. Somehow you will feel freer around certain people and, many times they will not be established friends or family. Safe people are rare indeed. If you are lucky enough to find one, stay close to him / her until the hardest part of the storm is passed and do so no matter how left out your old friends and family feel. These are the people who will crawl into your bucket and just listen.”

I took a trip to the lake today and sat, read my book, and felt the cool breeze before the rain clouds began to come our way. I then went and visited with a friend who I’m thankful I got to know better today. So often we have connections with people however don’t really know them. It was nice to feel listened to, to talk, share some tea, and I hope they enjoyed our visit too.

One more quote from the book ‘Don’t Take My Grief Away From Me’ by Doug Manning. This feels so appropriate to share after this afternoon.

“When bad things happen to us we have a tremendous need to tell our story. There are actually two sides to the story. First we need to explain what we are experiencing, how we felt when our loved one died, what we have lost, what fears grip us. This is human nature.”

So much of the last chapters I read today resonated with me.

One last quote, “No one knows as much about grief as those who are walking through it.” And this is true. Only you know what you are walking through. I’m thankful I’m not alone and have support. I continue to have hope, and that one day I’ll feel like myself again, and our family will feel complete to me.