Grief is a shared journey.

My sister died four years ago this week.  In looking back through her posts on Facebook in an attempt to recapture shared moments, I rediscovered the following that she posted on January 31, 2016. These words speak to me, and I am thinking they may speak to you as well. After all as some wise person once said -- we may each travel the road differently, but grief is a shared journey.

from the Deep Grief Great Love Group – posted on January 28, 2016:

Let me be crystal clear: if you’ve faced a tragedy and someone tells you in any way, shape or form that your tragedy was meant to be, that it happened for a reason, that it will make you a better person, or that taking responsibility for it will fix it, you have every right to remove them from your life.

Grief is brutally painful. Grief does not only occur when someone dies. When relationships fall apart, you grieve. When opportunities are shattered, you grieve. When illnesses wreck you, you grieve. So, I’m going to repeat a few words I’ve uttered countless times; words so powerful and honest that they tear at the hubris of every jackass who participates in the debasing of grieving. Sometimes things in life cannot be fixed.  They can only be carried.