Grief is not a smorgasbord where you go down the line picking a little of this and a little of that.
Grief is like a jigsaw puzzle. Some people get all the edge pieces together first and work from the outside in.
Others dump everything out on the table at once and jump right into the middle.
Some never open the box at all. They just look at the picture on the outside and wonder why what’s inside the box doesn’t match or make sense.
You meet a lot of people when you start a jigsaw puzzle. Some are full of advice or they may try to make the puzzle look the way it ought to be instead of the way it is.
But, once in awhile, you meet someone who shares their own finished puzzle and helps you to make some sense of yours.
Then you find it is not as hard as before. Some of the pieces fit together more easily, and you sigh with relief…and remember.
Written by Victoria Guthrie
For Bereved Families of Ontario