Grief — Stories of personal loss

For me i really thought grief was something that people could put behind them and move on from. However only after I lost a close family member, I realized that grief is a process that takes time and that people never truly move on completely.

Since then, I have been talking to people about their experiences with grief and how they cope with loss. I have heard stories, from people who have never cried over a loss to people who have shut down themselves for weeks.

One story that stands out is about my neighbor, who lost her sister 24 years ago. She never cried about her sister’s death until one day, about five years ago, she suddenly broke down and cried for hours. Her family said that after that day, she seemed completely different.

Another story is about my friend, who lost his family dog. The dog had been with him for 12 years and had been a part of some of the most critical moments in his life from his graduation to his Wedding. After the dog died, my friend shut down for a week. He didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t go to work, and didn’t cry. After a week, he returned to normal but never spoke about the dog again.

If you ask me have i moved on, i really do not have the answer. From time to time i ask myself the same question but i never got any clear answer sometimes at night i try to remember her face when i can remember that’s great but sometimes when i can’t i ask myself questions like is this how it will be when i die?

When I hear more and more stories, these things tells me that there is no one right way to grieve. Everyone copes with loss in their own way. Some people cry, some people shut down, and some people find unhealthy ways to cope with their grief(There was one particular story about my friend where he got into alcohol, and it took him about five years to get rid of the unhealthy habits he picked along the way).

What I understand is when something like this happens, we lose a part of ourselves, and the last thing you can do is try to move on as much as possible with keeping your other pieces intact and try to never let grief consume you, and what you should do is try to find ways to rebuild your life.