Good Grief

The trouble with quotes about death is that 99.9% of them are made by people who are still alive. Grief will always surprise you. Just when you think you have no tears left to cry, you unlock another tank. Sometimes grief surfaces in tears, other times in anger and apologies. 

I’m not afraid of death, I just don’t want to be there when it happens. With grief, it could be the smallest trigger. A similar laugh, a song, a place you drive by, and in an instant it feels like you are flung into a time machine and transported back to the moment. When time stood still. 

Grief is a funny thing because you don’t have to carry it with you for the rest of your life. After a bit you set it down by the roadside and walk on and leave it. I wish I could take your pain away and give it to someone that works in the federal government. They deserve it. 

The irony of grief is that the person you need to talk to about how you feel is the person who is no longer there. Grief, I now understand is a sort of madness, in the same way that falling in love is madness. Goodbyes are not forever. They simply mean I miss you until we see again. 

The dark humor that we acquire after a loss is my favorite things about grieving. It makes people uncomfortable yet it makes me happy. Make the jokes. They have literal healing power. Rang my guy who lost his dad and hit him with, ‘So you finally killed him!’

Move towards laughter. When you hear it, see what’s funny so you can laugh too. Grief never ends. But it changes its passage. It’s a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith. It is simply the price of love. Some people shine so brightly…

They can never be forgotten

©️ Gottfried. All rights reserved