Hello I'm Grief

Hello, I’m grief. I’ve come to be your companion for a while. 

I’ll sit with you. Sometimes quietly, sometimes so loud it’s like screaming. Some days there will be a gentleness to my presence. Other days you’ll cry out for me to just leave you alone. You'll feel pain like you’ve never experienced, feel emotions that you can’t put a name to and cry a river of tears. 

You didn’t ask for my visit, but here I am. I’m here because you know a relative of mine, Love. I don’t exist if Love wasn’t here first. 

 You need me, even if you don’t want me. I am here to give shape to that emptiness you feel inside, to give a name to all you’re feeling. 

 I am not here to harm you, though some days you’ll pray for death to ease the pain. But it’s not me causing the pain. I am just reminding you of what mattered, the love you felt, what you lost, and hopefully lead you to what remains inside you. For a time, you will feel as if I define you. You will curse me, push me away, or try to drown me out, even scream with the pain, but I promise you this: I am not your enemy.  

 I am also not here forever. I will come and go. I will be like the waves on the shore, sometimes crashing into the surf and other times just a gentle ripple. In our early days together, I will roar so loud that I am all that you can hear. You will want to hide from me. But eventually my voice will soften. A gentle whisper reminding you of what used to be, of memories that no one can erase. 

 I will leave you feeling broken and empty, but my presence will also change you, shape you. You will feel like I’ve broken you into tiny pieces but there is strength hidden in the cracks I create. I will feel like a burden that is impossible to carry but as you carry me your strength and courage will begin to show. Your love of life will begin to peek through. 

So, on those days when there is darkness to your world, when the pain is just too much to bear, and you’ve cried a million tears, remember, it’s me grief and I'm not here to defeat you. I’m just here to sit with you for a while. 

 I am part of your story, but you are the author of its ending. When you are ready, you will let me go—not completely, but enough to let the light filter back in and remember that without love I wouldn’t be here. 

Lynn 04/03/25