It is never easy to say goodbye. Especially when that goodbye is the forever kind. No one can ever prepare you for the death of a loved one. All you can do is shed some tears and continue living.
It is extremely hard to do when the death is that of a parent or loved one you were not expecting to pass on so quickly. Those times are even harder because all you can think of is what if I had done this or that differently. What if I had been here? Could I have prevented it? Or I thought I had more time. Sometimes things just happen and time runs out. The only thing we can do is appreciate what we have when we have it.
Well, that and keep the memories we have of that person alive in our hearts and minds. The pain we feel can be almost consuming at times, but we can’t let it take hold of us that much. The person we lost wouldn’t want us to let it. They would want us to live life to the fullest. To love once again and to be happy, even if it does hurt a little bit; that pain will stop with time.
It’s Never Easy to Say Goodbye
So take the time to grieve. Cry and sob. Remember all the times you had with that person and all of the adventures you had. Remember all the laughter you shared and all the sad times too. Then remember that they are gone but not forgotten. You may have had to say goodbye, but that does not mean you are going to forget them.
Then pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and take it one step at a time. Yes, you are still going to be sad, but it is okay to feel joy too. You are not going to be making light of the situation because you felt some happiness during this dark time. Quite the opposite, in most cases I find. In most cases, the person who passed would want us to experience that happiness. They would want us to keep living and laughing.
So say goodbye in your own way but don’t lose yourself in the process. Just because you lost them doesn’t mean you lost yourself too.
By Sheena
Image by Alan Levine Courtesy of Flickr – Creative Commons
