Loss Amidst the Merrymaking
Again at Christmas did we weave
The holly round the Christmas hearth;
The silent snow
possessed the earth,
And calmly fell our Christmas Eve.
The Yule log sparkled keen with frost,
No wing
of wind the region swept,
But over all things brooding slept
The quiet sense of something lost.
Alfred
Tennyson
Memories of birthdays, anniversaries, summer vacations and personal milestones are
always there to make grief fresh again. Any first time occasion without our loved one sharpens our awareness of the loss.
Visit The First Time Around for thoughts on other holidays and significant days on the calendar.
Because the shadow
that hovers over special events can linger, I am leaving the holiday section on the site year round for all the seasons
of your grief. Please visit any time.
For
a different perspective on grief, read The Truth About Grief: The Myth of Its Five Stages and the New Science of Loss by Ruth Davis Konigsberg. She writes on page 16, "Our grief culture maintains that grief is unique, then offers
a uniform set of instructions [on how to grieve]." From the back cover: "With this book, I hope to offer you a means
of escape from our habitual ways of thinking about grief."
Konigsberg's
work is thought provoking and well researched. Click A Change of Heart for my review of the book.
Go to next page: The Holiday Blues
