Good Grief

Yesterday was H(helping).U(us).G(grieve).S(successfully). Camp at the zoo for Rey, Genna, Ariez, Trey, Grandma Nessa, and I. We heard about this camp through Mourning Hope. They have been such a God-send for our family. They have provided us the tools to help us navigate this grief in a very healthy, positive way.

Grief is awful. There's no denying it. There's no sugar-coating it. There's also no way of going around it. It is imperative to go THROUGH the pain and not around it. Grief is a mystery. It's hard enough to mine the grief battlefield for ourselves, let alone recognize and allow our children to grieve. We want to stuff it all away and put a band-aid on it because grief is too hard. Mourning Hope has allowed us to support all of our children in their individual grief battlefields. We are all grieving in our own unique way and we certainly need the help to continue to help them do it successfully.

Yesterday's camp was hard work but it was good work. It was important work. It was work that we will continue to do and hopefully continue to help our children do. We know now that grieving is not on a timetable. We know that it is something that we will carry with us every day that was live. It doesn't have to be hard everyday but it will certainly be with us. We will continue to go to "grief camps" and workshops that allow us to express the things we hold onto deep inside us.

I am so proud of my kiddos and my mother for coming and facing feelings that sit at the surface, no matter how hard we try to pretend they don't. I'm proud of them for having the courage to face the hard grief work and the strength to share what they are feeling. I'm proud of the progress they have made and will continue to nurture the progress that we still need to move through.

Grief is hard. The work is good. The work is good for our hearts, it's good for our souls, it's good for minds.