Greetings from Oklahoma. I’m here to spend time with family and commemorate my Gramma. It’s been eight years since we lost her at the age of 99.5, but it still felt much too soon. I shared this piece in Monday’s Love Note (you’re subscribed, right?!) and wanted to also post it on the blog as it’s stuck with me all week.
Loss has a way of making us reevaluate, doesn’t it? A few months after she was laid to rest, I made a big transition by stepping away from day-to-day business operations to finish my last year of graduate school and mourn. After two more losses over the next few years (beloved Bonnard and Louis), I have yet to fully recover.
But do we ever really recover from loss? Relationships, jobs, dreams, health, location, identity, time of life—they all leave a hole.
The pain is a reminder of how much we loved and there are lessons in loss. We may begin to question our own life journey. We may simplify our life. We may express love more often. We may work to maintain a strong continuing bond with the deceased. We may shift our priorities. We may hold those around us tighter. We may get stronger. We may pay more attention to the present moment.
I’m reading Mary Pipher’s Women Rowing North and came across this beautiful passage, “The more that is taken from us, the more capacity we have for compassion and appreciation. Growth requires healing from tragedies and integrating them into our wholeness.”
As you move through this week, I encourage you to wrap yourself in compassion. Reach out to loved ones. Acknowledge those who have touched you. Schedule a visit to a place that holds happy memories. Reconnect to those dreams that lie dormant, but are still relevant. It’s a loss because we loved and to love is a gift.
You are beautiful and you are loved. Bisous. x
