GRIEF AND HEALING

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The timing is uncanny.  
 
I read a beautiful piece titled “Grief and Healing" last night.  And this morning, i received news of the sudden demise of a friend’s son.   A striking young man so filled with the Holy Spirit.  
 
 
 
 
The author of the article, Teresa Greenway, lost her son 24 years ago.  He is one of 10 children she has.
 
In her article, she said of the day of his 24th death anniversary,  “I was okay.  And then I wasn’t.  Without warning a shuddering welled up inside, my gut contracted and tears began to seep out. I wept.  Today will have its due because he mattered, because he is loved.  Because I miss him."
 
And she went on to say, “You think you have worked it out and have healed inside.  Everything is fine.  You find just how much you’ve healed on that day. This day.  The day it happened, 24 years ago."

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My own sister was called home to be with the Lord 20 years ago, after a 10 year journey with Multiple Myeloma (cancer of the bone marrow).  My parents grieved her passing, and they emerged with even stronger faith in Christ.   They are now in their 80s, living well and they serve the Lord joyfully.  But grief doesnt end.  Every 13th of the month, in all of these 20 years, they tell us siblings that they remember their first born. 
 
Liam Neeson who lost his wife in 2009 in a tragic accident, wrote in 2011, “That’s the weird thing about grief.  You can’t prepare for it.  You think you’re gonna cry and get it over with.  You make those plans, but they never work.  It hits you in the middle of the night.  I am out walking. I am feeling quite content. And it’s like sudden, boom.  It’s like you’ve just done that in your chest.”  
 
And in an interview in 2018, he said, “Grief hits like a wave.  You just get this profound feeling of instability…. the Earth isn’t stable any more and then it passes, and it becomes more infrequent, but I still get it sometimes."
 
Teresa Greenway wrote yesterday, “You think you are done with grief…."
 
The mystery of life and death.  May the Lord’s Spirit sustain us all, and may our Blessed Mother be with all who grief the loss of loved ones, and pray for us at the hour of our death.
 
 
 

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