Grieving Process

Grief is a normal response to loss. But because most of us experience it deeply only a few times in our lives, it can be frightening and confusing.

Grief is a powerful and sometimes overwhelming experience. It has both emotional and physical effects on us.

Because grief is such a personal process, there is no "right way" to grieve. The important thing is to allow our feelings to flow and to talk - talk with someone who can really listen and allow us the time we need to talk or cry. "Being strong" will only make matters more difficult.

To grieve is like suddenly being pushed into a cold and swiftly flowing river in which there are rapids and rocks and logs and other submerged objects. As we are carried along in the current, we bump into things in the river. Some of them hurt a lot and some are just annoying. Just as not two persons floating in a river will bump into the exact same things, no two people who grieve will experience exactly the same things. If we do the work of grief, we will be able to swim to the bank and climb out of the river.