Sorrow

Life does indeed go on. It does not stop when someone you love, someone who has loved you dies. Time pushes us forward regardless of our hearts into a new dawn, into a life that must be lived despite the empty place that's left behind.

And though it is not easy to push your passing from our minds, a few minutes of laughter does wonders for a hurting soul and a promise of something to look forward to eases the sadness from our eyes.

KC and I had this conversation last night. That it's okay for everyone to feel sad in their own way. Sometimes by crying, sometimes by being angry, sometimes by being quiet and for some by simply smiling their way past the tears.

We're all very different in how we choose to grieve, I told her, but we must remember that grief is just as much of an individual as the person who wears it on their face and there is no set time, to begin or to end what things your heart has to feel before you feel you're ready to really let that the person you love go.

Perhaps for myself, I can only explain that my grief displayed itself more prominently in the days before she died and in the morning that she did. And what my heart feels now is gratitude for having known her, love for the family and bond she gave birth to, hope for the promise of life eternal, and a small, sad smile that knows she isn't gone. Just simply out of sight.

Sorrow fully accepted brings its own gifts. For there is alchemy in
sorrow. It can be transmuted into wisdom, which, if it does not bring joy,
can yet bring happiness.

PEARL S. BUCK