I passed the first apartment we shared
I slowed down to see our old balcony
Two lifetimes ago
I barely remember the young bride
Fresh off the boat from the great white north
Who called that place home
Whatever happened to her?
Now it feels foreign, like it was all a dream

But things keep passing through this world

And then there’s hospice
The immense sadness seeps into its walls
A constant reminder that death is unfair
The process is unfair
The tsunami of emotion
Left wallowing in the unfillable hole it leaves in its wake
Is also unfair
An essay said our culture doesn’t acknowledge death for what it is:
A part of life
We view it as a complete failure of medical intervention
My medical training causes me to struggle with this
Nothing is spared from death
Even the hopes for the future dashed against the jagged rocks of reality

Death and grief come passing through in many forms

“I have some bad news,” he said. “She died and it was suicide”
It took awhile register
There wasn’t a dry eye when it was announced
We commiserated through tears
The fallout hit swiftly

And so, we sit in grief
It’s uncomfortable to us Americans
We pull ourselves up by the bootstraps
And manifest destiny our way through the wearying times
“Because Jesus, you guys!”
And somehow
We’re suppose to smile through our tears and give glory to God
Avoiding the uncomfortable bit that is processing our loss
Because it gets ugly
It is completely burdensome
Without any order
And logic? There is none
It Instagrams terribly
A direct hit to the happy, clappy Christendom we built here
Where they want to look past your pain because it is uncomfortable
It clashes with their happy, clappy way of life
As if being healthy, wealthy, and wise were fruits of the Spirit

But grieving is needed
So needed
To heal mind, body, and soul
In its own time
In its own way
In its own place

I grieved for two years
I did not know what I was experiencing was grief
Until a therapist told me that’s what it was

The scar tissue will form
Someday
In its own time

Grief, like death
Is just passing through
It is not the final say, yet it remains

But grieve
Grieve
Until your heart falls out
Your Father in Heaven will catch it with His loving hands.