Grief changes shape, but it never ends. --Keanu Reeves
I would say that in general, we humans are fairly forgiving and quite willing to offer "second chances." Even in baseball, one gets three strikes. So much can be fixed by a "do-over" or making amends. We learn to "do better next time."
I think that is partly why death, losing a loved one, is so difficult. It's forever, which to our little human psyches doesn't make sense; it is incomprehensible, yet right in our faces. My brain keeps repeating, "I can't believe _____ is gone forever." There is a lovely story on Upworthy.com about a fourth-grade teacher describing grief to her students, and the subsequent outpouring of the students from her story. (Upworthy is good positive news, much needed in our world today!) I appreciate the teacher's idea that grief takes up space in our hearts and minds and can make them less available to everyday life tasks and emotions... less patient, distracted, overwhelmed.
It has begun. While I've lost quite a few family members (I'm the only one remaining from my family of origin), the friend who passed this week is the first close friend and contemporary to pass. Unless I beat all the rest to eternity, I expect there is more grief in my future, thus the Reeves quote above.
One day at a time,
Leta
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