The wonderfully honest and insightful Mon, over at Holistic Mama, invites us to join in with Thankful Anyway Thursday. In Mon's words, "It's easy to be thankful for the good stuff, can you be thankful for the not so good?"
Here is a poem expressing what my sister and I shared yesterday.
Grief Still Visits
I saw your face change
when that memory knocked.
Our shared hurt surfaced
and slowed our world.
Disbelief sat next to us
and tapped our shoulders.
Time tells Daddy's little girls
to watch him fade away again.
Grief adheres to our souls
and cycles back to visit.
We watched our kids play and laugh together all day. Then we started to remember Dad's last days. Our tears were as fresh as the day that his soul lifted up.
After ten years of a life without him, we still feel the sting of that sudden grief. Seeing her hurt ached my soul even more. Love mixed with grief will always be part of us now. We didn't even try to console each other. We looked at each other in silence. After a few moments, I shared a funny memory about Dad. It helped us to smile again and plan the next activity for the kids. That's what he wants us to do. Life is about joy. Gratefully, grief is not a regular visitor. In many ways, I'm thankful for this opportunity for me and my sister to share our grief together. It strengthens our bond as sisters and deepens our commitment to family. I am thankful for not being alone in that moment of grief. We were able to honor my father's memory together as we smiled about how his humor continues to bring life to our family.
Take a moment to hop over to Holistic Mama to read more Thankful Anyway Thursday posts.
