Grief is a personal process that takes time. Over my lifetime so far, I’ve lost both of my parents, three brothers and two dear friends that were with me through thick & thin for over 30 plus years. A loss is a loss is a loss. Each loss has it’s own lasting impact on your life.

It doesn’t matter how old they are, how sick they are, how long they have been sick, you are still never ready to lose them.

Never let anyone tell you when you should be done grieving. This is an individual process and every relationship is different. When my mom passed away, I took it really hard. I was the only girl in the family and my mom and I did everything together when I was growing up and I was her primary caregiver when she took ill. They sent my mom home on hospice and gave her two weeks to live. She lived another 1.5 years which was extra time that none of us ever expected to have with her. My mom had a sunny disposition. She rarely yelled. She was more quiet, but she was funny. She would sing funny songs. She loved God, her family and her church.

My mom went home to be with the Lord in September of 2009. Just as fall was beginning and all of the holidays. The first year and all of the first holidays are the hardest. I remember I could not participate in the same holiday traditions that year that our family was used to. I had to process the loss of my mom in my own way. That year I needed something different. So different that my daughter and I traveled to MI to celebrate Christmas with my niece and her family. Something that we had never done before. It was just what we needed. We baked cookies together, we shared Christmas with her and her family and I’m so grateful that she and her family put up with us.

During the hospice process you always know that death is around the corner. If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ then it is a home going because your are going to heaven to see Jesus. You have eternal life if you have repented of your sins and have faith and believe in Jesus Christ. It is our faith in Christ that allows us to know that we will see our loved ones again one day. There is a scripture in the Bible that says absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We leave our physical earthly bodies here on earth and our spiritual bodies are in heaven with Christ.

It is this faith, in Christ that keeps you going. As time passes, the loss gets a little easier and the tears lessen. But the memories of my mom will live with me forever in my heart and in my mind.

As we delve into this topic, a loss and grief does not only pertain to physical death. It also pertains to relationships, break-ups and matters of the heart.

We grieve over a lot of things. It could be over a separation from family, an unexpected job loss that you thought you were going to retire from, etc.

It is OK to grieve. You know yourself and your own body. It is OK to talk to someone about your grief. Do not be afraid to seek wise counsel and talk to someone. Sometimes it takes talking out loud to someone who can help you work through your grief. Sometimes writing in a daily, weekly, or monthly journal is helpful too. Writing it down can be therapeutic and when you read back through your journal you can see just how far you have come. I have found that Prayer is comforting and can help to. God is always there. I know He has seen me through it all.

Other topics we will look into are: How can you help someone who is grieving? What should you say or not say to someone who has suffered a loss? The various stages of grief. Making new normal’s and much more….