HUG Corner: Thought for the Week 12/18/17
December 18, 2017
Healing After Loss (Martha Whitmore Hickman)
“…and it was gray, and grayer the the deeper he went. What if it was deeper than he had figured? But soon the light changed, the muck brightened, and he was headed out, towards clear sky and sun again. He said that was the best sight in the world.”
– Josephine Humphries
“Deeper and deeper we burrow into our grief. Desolation pile on one another. We wonder if we shall ever see anything on the horizon bu this gloom and sadness.
Then one day, in some moment of quiet reflection, we find ourselves thinking of something else! Is it possible?
We will move back and forth many times – back into the dark woods and forward again into light. After a while we will realize it is all one world, that feelings of joy and sadness enrich each other – as a person who has been mortally ill has a new appreciation for the beauty of starlight, the taste of orange juice, the caress of love.
Is it all right? Is it being disloyal to our lost loved one – to savor our life afresh? Are we in danger of forgetting? Not to worry. We would as soon forget to breathe.
I will be open to the possibility of joy in my life, and I will not be afraid.”