Today I cried hysterically when I redownloaded the Starbucks app to my phone and saw an 83 week old gift card from my Dad. Thatās what grieving looks like.
Knowing Iām on my 62nd week of my dad dying and unexpectedly having to acknowledge that there will never be anymore little ājust thinking of youā gifts from him.
And that every time I post a photo of me or my mom smiling our friends rush to say how good it is to see us happy. Itās unfair, but I canāt help but feel as if the people surrounding us are just waiting for us to be ābetterā so they can breath a sigh of relief that we are āok.ā
These crushing moments will last for the rest of our lives though. And itās ok. Weāre functional, and we can be happy, but weāre not moving on. Weāre simply moving forward because there is no going back.
Let your friends be sad no matter how long itās been or how silly of a reason it is for the grief to hit them. Donāt stop talking or look away in fear of embarrassing them. Let them know they are seen. Empathy makes grief bearable.