Grief

Dealing with the Death of a Loved One Dealing with the death of a loved one is a difficult time that, unfortunately, everyone must go through at some point. Most of us never think of how to deal with the loss of our loved ones until we are faced with the reality of death. It is one of the harsh realities that are commonly faced without training or education; learning to accept that we do not get over a loss, rather, learn to live with it. The experience of such a loss can assist individuals in accepting their grief response as a journey. The stages of mourning are universal and are experienced differently depending on many circumstances that the mourner is experiencing. As an example in The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion attempts to come to terms with her grief over the sudden death of her husband. After losing my father, I have learned there are five stages of grief: denial/shock, pain/guilt, anger, depression, and acceptance. There are books, novels, poems that iterate each stage of grief. These resources benefit out the mourner greatly. After losing my father and many therapy sessions I discovered the grief stages; not everyone who has lost a loved one has to experience every stage, there isn’t one correct way to come to the conclusion of acceptance. Consequently, there are different resources available besides therapists and psychologists whom can help. Getting the help is the first step.
Didion went through stages of grief after losing her husband. Though, Didion experienced more sadness due to also having Quintana in the hospital terminally ill. Everyone goes through different stages; some can bypass some stages and get through acceptance fairly quickly. Experiencing any of these emotions following a loss, may help to know that the reaction is natural and that it will heal in time. “There is no pain that will last 100 years, nevertheless, a body that will sustain the pain,” I remember hearing this quote from my parents as I was