When my dad died, the hospice gave us some really useful info about grief. Made us all realise we were ‘normal’ when it felt far from it. So what have you learnt that might help someone else ? Mine are ...
- grief is very physical. I’ve lost weight, my hair has fallen out in handfuls, my periods went all over the place and I’ve felt sick often. All of this is natural.
- it comes and goes in waves. Last week I though ‘I think this might actually be getting easier’. This week as my dads birthday approached .. nope it’s not.
Grief is exhausting - I sleep fine but sometimes I feel so so tired. Like I could sleep for a week. In the first few weeks I used to feel like I was walking through treacle some days. Walking was exhausting
- grief doesn’t come in the near stages you read about ... shock, anger etc etc. For me it comes and goes through them all randomly. I can sometimes feel anger just under the surface then it goes again. Hope I’m not storing that one up
Grief likes to trick you - like the time you forget your loved one has gone and then remember about just as suddenly.
It actually doesn’t get easier - I think you just adapt and change as a person to cope.