 Grief is deep, acute personal sorrow, as that arising from irreplaceable loss: “Grief fills the room up of my absent child,/Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me” (Shakespeare). Grief is "soul anguish", excruciating mental pain. Heartache, an attribute of grief most often applies to sustained private sorrow ... heartbreak is overwhelming grief. Grief is not only experienced in conjunction with the death of one we care for, but can occur with any type of loss in life ~ the loss of a hope or dream, a job; many circumstances in life can cause grief. Here though, we will concentrate on the grief that accompanies the death of someone we love and care for. Grief has the capacity to enter our daily lives at whim, unexpectedly, uninvited, and throw us into complete emotional chaos - reducing us to shoulder wracking sobs, overwhelming heartbreak, heavy breathing or gasping for air. Our chest becomes tight and feels as though bound with bone crushing bands, pleas of "why, why, why?" are ringing in our ears, rolling from our grief parched tongues. We cry out to God in agony, we cry for our loved one to speak to us in some way, touch us somehow, be WITH us again, though reality breaks in through our sorrow, and we know this cannot happen. We are here, they are somewhere else. The loneliness in those moments is undefinable with human words.  Once the episode is over, feeling totally drained, but strangely feeling some relief, we go on about our life. . . until the next unknown time of grief's painful knock at our heart's door, when this ritual will again take place. And in the early days of grief, this ritual might be repeated many times in the course of a single day. Grief is hard work, but it must be worked through if we are ever to have peace. If we are to 'live' again, we must come to terms with the grief in our heart and soul. In the coming weeks I want to expand this important section of Legacy in hopes that it will help each one of us to grieve, but not without hope. It is my desire that we learn to accept grief, even welcome it as a friend that will help our broken hearts to heal. We have all suffered loss, or will suffer loss in our lives. May we each experience the healing salve of God's love expertly applied to our hearts, with His grace. And may the sharing here, friend to friend, strengthen and encourage us to live fully, every day that is granted to us. May we never forget our loved ones, but hold them close in our hearts until that glad reunion day that is promised to those who love the Lord. present, and hear from others on this journey of grief.
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