But we pick ourselves up off the ground and know that each year it will be a bit easier. Or is it? For some, it is still a serious emotional struggle. They may hide it well and few people know or understand the pain of that loss. When my son and his family walked away from our family five years ago, I maintained an attitude of hope that he would return before the year-end. I will continue to maintain that attitude although sometimes that thread of hope gets thinner - I still hang on. I will never give up. I know it is not the end of the story.
What that loss has done is make me more empathetic to those who have lost much more than I have. We cannot measure the bereavement for anyone other than ourselves because each of us process pain differently.
But the season of Christmas is a reminder that we have much to be thankful for, to be joyful and enjoy the good memories and new ones we are about to make.
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| What memories we will make this Christmas with these precious ones |
