ABC’s of GRIEF

Special thanks to Joyce Floyd for sharing this with me when she first contacted me after the death of my son Bobby in September 2009... I still read it quite often and thought you might also find it comforting......  

ABC’s of GRIEF....

A is for accepting the loss of our child

B is for the books we read to help us understand the grieving process

C is for the children and the crying.  We cry and we mourn the loss of our child

D is for the door that seems to have closed the day our child died. 

E is for education.  The more we learn about the death, the more we can come to terms with it.

F is for the foolish things people say to grieving families to comfort us.  Forgive them for their ignorance and accept on faith that they mean well.

G is for the gift of life that was given the day our child was born.

H is for the help that we need to seek.  Grief does not know time frames. 

I is for innocence that we lose when we realize that life is not fair.  We no longer assume that life goes on.  Rather, we learn to live today as there are no guarantees for tomorrow.

J is for jealousy that we feel when other families appear to have normal lives.

K is for the last kiss we gave our child, the kiss that showed our child they were loved.

L is for the love that did not die but lives on within our hearts.

M is for the memories that we will cherish forever.

N is for the nurturing we gave our child, and need to continue to give our remaining children.

O is for the openness we need with our family and friends about what we are feeling and need.

P is for the presents that we will no longer be buying. 

Q is for the questions we will ask but won’t receive an answer for.

R is for the rest, which is hard to get, yet which we need to get through the grieving.

S is for the stories that we should tell about our child to keep them alive in our hearts.

T is for the time you must give yourself to grieve.

U is for the understanding that we must have that the world will go on, and our lives will eventually be put back together.

V is for the virtue of overcoming the many roadblocks that life puts up.

W is for the why’s, which can drive us crazy and wisdom to know there may never be answers.

X is for extra strength and love it takes.

Y is for you that needs to bring yourself to terms with you loss.  ONLY you know what helps and what does not help in your grief journey. 

Z is for the end, the end of the alphabet, the end of a life, but NEVER the end of our love.