Grief Is a Funny Thing

Grief is a funny thing.

One minute we are upright and moving on

The next we are stopped by a memory, a feeling, and brought to our knees.

The memories linger like shadows

And there is a person, emotion-soaked space that they used to occupy.

You see the phantoms of their presence in the doorways, on the street, in the lyrics of a song, in the scent of the rain.

The gaping hole reopens at the most unexpected things.

There is the knowledge that what was lost can never be regained.

Life’s happiest moments will be tinged with sadness.

An echo of a presence will follow in your footsteps.

It will call out in the quiet moments

And dig at the old wounds you thought had healed.

What’s left are scars that never fully fade.

Grief is a funny thing.