grief

“Whether or not our departed loved ones are still with us, holding them as if they are can enrich our living experience.”
"I woke up daily, teeth clenched like an animal unwilling to let go of its prey. But the prey was me."
"Nothing prepared me for my daughter's call one afternoon. 'Ryan thinks Daddy’s dead!' she blurted when I answered."
"Despite my years of training and experience, when it came to Mathilda, I couldn’t make the compassionate decision to let her go when she was ready."
"I was clinging tightly to the life I had before. I wanted ― and thought I needed ― everything to stay the same, because if it did, then Simon wouldn’t be dead."
"These tattoos have boosted my self-esteem and helped me love my body again ― something I haven’t felt since I was young."
"I tried to decode his thoughts through the Buffett songs he chose to play on our drives, as if some secret message to me was hidden in the lyrics."
"There were a few phrases that came up over and over again. ... Many just floated past me ... but others became lodged under my skin."
"I hadn’t 'rendezvoused' in eight years. That’s when my first husband died in a car accident on his commute home from work."
For parents and children who are grieving, September can be a difficult time.