Bar C Publishing and Distribution.

 I sit here looking out my window as large, almost weightless snowflakes gently drift towards the ground. The wind lifting them first this way then that. Until their final destination is reached, be it the roof of the house, the wood piled by the sliding glass doors, or the steps off the front porch making decent potentially treacherous.

The delicate snowflakes remind me of my personal journey of learning to live with sadness. I cannot remember exactly when the weight of grief diminished then slowly lifted from my shoulders. I do not remember the time of year, the day or what I was doing. I just know that my heart felt lighter, my shoulders no longer drooped under the burden of monumental loss. Physically my body didn’t require so much effort to make it function. It wasn’t such a strain to get up in the morning and proceed through the day.

Not that my feelings of love had in any way lessened, they hadn’t. It was just the weight of my world, on my shoulders no longer seemed as crushing or as unbearable.

A mistake some people make is to believe that by learning to live and function in a normal manner in society after losing a loved one, means that you have got over your loss. What ever that means?

The longer you mourn in no way equates to the depth of your devotion, as does the shorter you mourn in any way depreciate your loyalty or allegiance.

Learning to live through bereavement is dictated by no-one except ourselves, we all live within individual timelines. Living through loss is the hardest lesson to learn. The emotional journey is much like the snowflake drifting past my window. Its descent from heaven unexpectedly altered to follow a different path, diverted by wind or the pot holes of life, yet each ultimately fulfilling their destiny.

This crossing is followed by many others and you are not alone. Reach out if you have a need, find acceptance and comfort in your world.

Search for the way until your individual direction is revealed, where you may occasionally slip, yet step forward with a lighter load and like the snowflake blown by the winds of time, you will after all fulfill your destiny. Just maybe from a different direction than once expected and conclude in a surprising place.

© Deborah Collins aka Emily Richardson.

Remember hope. To have hope means finding something to believe in when there is no reason left to believe in anything. Never ever give up on hope. If I help only one, it is enough.

                                                       I come from that surprising place.