HUG Corner: Thought for the Week 7/10/17

From “Healing After Loss” Martha Whitmore Hickman

“It isn’t for the moment you are struck that you need courage, but for the long uphill climb back to sanity and faith and security.”

– Anne Morrow Underbergh

In the first flush of grief we are present to the needs of the occasion almost in spite of ourselves. The forms and customs of what to do next, how to behave, are pretty well prescribed, and we need muster only enough energy and will to follow along, do what is expected.

But then the rituals are over and life settles into a freer form. The decisions to be made are not about details of the service or where the visiting family members will sleep, but how to get on with our lives, what to do with the silences. Then we will need courage and fortitude.

And we will need these qualities for a long time as we struggle to regain our footing on a path that has drastically shifted. We will need courage for the daily walk, and confidence in the goals we have set – or reset – for ourselves now that one of our companions is no longer with us.

Give me courage for the long haul, and courage for each day’s journey.