What Is Grief?

The other day I read the following "message". It describes, so beautifully, what grief is, how it impacts us, how we will move through it, and how we will change because of it (not a bad change, just a change).

"YOUR HEART WILL SING AGAIN:
by Gillian & Darryl Torckler

Grief is normal.
Grief will pass.
Grief will hurt.
Grief will teach.
Grief is love.

Death hurts.
It fills you with memories,
fills you with regret,
and fills your eyes with tears.
Death makes you angry,
confuses you,
and makes you sad.

Grief is an uninvited visitor, reluctant to leave,
That finds you unprepared and overwhelms everything.
Grief feels like guilt; like fear; like illness.
Grief needs company, and seeks solace.
Grief ebbs and flows.
There will be good days; bad days; and difficult days.
Grief is love.

With time, grief's force will diminish.
Freedom will return:
Freedom to be happy:
Freedom to remember;
Freedom to live;
And freedom to love.

Your head will stop seeking explanations,
And your pain will recede.
Your heart will be scarred,
But your heart will sing again:
Not the same song,
Not a weaker song,
Just a different song.

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal,
love leaves a memory no one can steal. - Anon

I hope you enjoy the above "message" - it truly put to words, for me, the journey of grief. (The next couple of entries will be touching on "regret" and "guilt". I look forward to sharing them with you.)