Grief and Overcoming It

Time.  When they say time heals all, it's true.  But I believe you have to want to let time heal.  You have to want healing and progress or else you will stay trapped in the bubble you have been living in.  In 2012 one of my closes childhood friends was involved in a wildfire accident.  Anne, age 20, was a break-dancing, horseback riding, only-girl-majoring-in Diesel Mechanics, beauty-pageant winning, Forrest-fire-fighting powerhouse.  She was inspirational to everyone around her.

Young at heart and of mind, she was a force to be reckoned with.  I remember that summer... She was really upset towards the end because she didn't want to stop fighting forest fires to return to school.  She was called out on one last fire the week before she was to return to school to finish up her degree in diesel mechanics.  She said she wished she could just fight fires forever... and then it happened.  A total fluke of an accident- no one saw it coming.  A huge gust of wind out of nowhere came and broke a large, dead branch off of a tree that was above her.  It fell on her and she passed away instantly.  It took us by surprise that God would call her home so soon and at such a young age.  It was baffling and confusing and frustrating.  She was one of my closest friends.  And then she was gone.

And it has taken me a couple years go get to the point I got to the other day.  I wrote the following on my personal social media page and thought I would share it here.  I will leave you with this.

grief is a very interesting concept. It can be short lived, life-long, or somewhere in between. There are many stages to the grieving process but the end one is the goal. The last stage is when the grief turns into appreciation and love. There will always be hard days, but eventually the good days outweigh the bad days. Eventually you may get to the point where when something reminds you of a departed loved one, the memory doesn't bring tears and pain, but instead a smile and a celebration of a life. Today was monumental when I realized I have moved into that final stage. Instead of wanting to turn on sad country songs and lay in bed, today I found myself wanting to share memories with people and reminisce about a wonderful life. To those of you grieving a death, a loss of a friendship, a family member, a pet, a lifestyle, a home- whatever grief you may be dealing with, you are in my prayers. I pray you may find healing so you may look back and smile and have a toast on behalf of the past.