Grief

I was thinking about grief today, and some of the forms it can sneak up on a person when they aren’t aware of it. Yes, you can tally the facts and figures, the things that one would normally grieve about, but the actual process of grieving, while you can do a general step by step of the stages of grieving, you don’t actually know when the next steps will come. Sometimes they will come in different orders, or just sneak up and catch you when you are least expecting it.
I was thinking about some things that have happened over the past few months, that I have known about, or known of, that have caused me to grieve for different reasons, people I love who have died, or been sick, the grief of leaving, and seeing people grieving for others. It’s been an interesting thing to see what has that kind of an effect on someone- some hit you at the time, whereas, at other times the grief has snuck up on me unawares.
And having to be strong for people around you when you would really much rather collapse in a heap and cry.
I guess we all have different roles to play in these situations, and will always have to find our way through. Sometimes it just seems easier to shut down and not think about it, but it always seems to come out in the end… so the question is, how to get it out in a reasonable way…. It struck me tonight too, that knowing more about the grief process doesn’t actually make you immune to it… just more clearly aware..!