How To Help Keep Our Late Loved Ones In Our Lives
Gone but not forgotten, let's weave their into our every day
The only thing certain in life is death. And yet, not all nations deal compassionately with death and those grieving.
The memory of this conversation visits me several times a year. Until recently, I was never sure why. I can still recall how her words made me prickle. I didn’t challenge her or try to educate her at the time. I didn’t have the vocabulary, maturity, or insight.
In my first year of university, a friend relayed a conversation she shared with her flatmate.
“oh, it was awful, last night my new flatmate told me her mum died of cancer. How awkward!”
I asked how she responded to her flatmate.
“I didn’t say anything! Are you kidding me? I just changed the subject, I didn’t know what to say, how awkward!”
My friend made the death of someone else’s mother about her!
She placed her own feelings of awkwardness above the feelings of the bereaved. She didn’t recognize the courage it took for her flatmate to share this information. She didn’t have the commu…