Janet

“The grief that does not speak whispers the o'erfraught heart and bids it break.”
― William Shakespeare, Macbeth

“Unhappy Anniversary
Memories fly, tears descend,
when death's anniversary
impinges upon the present.
Light a candle in the wind,
reminisce upon a kiss;
Loss's torment reigns eternal,
long after all our tears are spent.
Neither motions of joy,
nor effervescence of bliss
can't throw us off
the scent of lingering lament.
Death, is death, is death,
with or without our frail consent.”
― Beryl Dov

“Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after. Such moments are tests of courage, of strength.”
― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

“Grief is a winding, nasty road that has no predictable course, and the best thing you can do as a friend is to show up for the ride. You cannot rush grief. Read that again, and let it soak in as you either walk through it or alongside someone who is in the midst of it. One of the best things you can do for friends who are suffering through loss is to remind them of this over and over. Don’t mention how other people have “coped so well” with their losses or how “it seems like so-and-so has come out of this better than you have.” I have heard from people who have heard these exact sentences, and while I have a feeling their friends wanted to encourage them into a place of recovery, they weren’t helped by such remarks. It stings to feel like your grief isn’t normal or that you aren’t recovering the way you should be. There is no normal. There is the loss, and there is the Lord. That balance dictates the season, not the changing leaves or the anniversaries of death. I love the way Gregory Floyd explains the delicate balance of hope and pain, “Our faith gives us the sure hope of seeing him again, but the hope does not take away the pain.”1”
― Angie Smith, I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy