By When I’m looking for inspiration for my column, I love to search through The Prospector’s archived stories, specifically the old editorials.
One that I have looked over multiple times and think everyone should read at least once is Megan Michelotti’s “Love as Unexpressed Grief.” Here, she explains how love and grief work hand in hand to create the beautiful and yet painful thing we call life. I cannot stop myself from feeling as if I relate to this person, whom I have never met, yet her writing seems so deeply present in my life.
In July, my grandfather passed away very suddenly, and this Thanksgiving was the first holiday my family came together after his passing. I would say we came together to celebrate, however, an empty seat that represents the holes in our hearts and the loud absence of the sound of an oxygen tank did not leave much room for celebration.
Now my family is not very religious, but once a year my grandmother will say Grace before we eat, and it is always on Thanksgiving. She always ends it with “…and bless those who are here today and those who could not make it.” I don’t think words had sunk faster for anyone in my family until that was said.
Grandmother’s words prompted me to ask: “What am I actually thankful for?”
There are the basics, my loved ones, my school, my teams, and even my jobs.
But I am also thankful for the love I have for my family and I am thankful for loved ones who are not here with me today.
While grieving my grandfather has not been easy, I now can say that I am thankful for this grief. I am thankful that I have been blessed enough to love someone so deeply, and so much, that I have a continuous amount of unexpressed love.
I know that some of you may be experiencing this grief this holiday season as well.
I think what has made it better is understanding it as love, rather than remembering it and setting it aside as loss. But as Megan said in her article, I encourage those of you who are experiencing this to allow yourself to feel this grief, and to remember that this grief is proof of how deeply you can love someone.
We will always have that love, just in a different form.
