Spoiler alert: It’s not true.
You know how everyone says the first year of widowhood is the hardest? Usually said by those who have zero idea what losing a spouse feels like because losing a spouse is something they’ve never faced.
While everyone is different, and so many factors such as the manner of death, gender, age, faith, and lots of others affect the second year, I’ve found that while the first year is all about survival, the second is when the shock wears off.
And you start to settle in to your new life as a widow or widower. It’s fully accepting, both in your heart and your mind, that they will never, ever come back. Loneliness and lethargy rise in proportion to the adrenaline and anxiety of the first year.
It’s floating along grief’s river, allowing loneliness to wash over you but not allowing it to suffocate you.
It’s a task. To flow with grief. Let it take you but not break you. To do what we do, but in a different way we’ve always done. 💙
#laughterafterdeath #lookingintherearviewmirror
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