The Seventeenth One.
Afternoon, Subheading: Learning through loss. Every time someone I love passes away, the words to express what I'm feeling seem to get harder to find rather than easier. I imagine that it's because the older I get, the more knowledge I've accrued about the facets of life, and love, and in turn- what the absence of life means to me. Also, I just know so many more synonyms for life; like chronicle, vitality, or effervescence. Which one is right? How do you choose what to say to guide the ones you love through an event that will be viewed through so many different lenses of grief? I've been trying to think about what I've felt in moments of significant loss, and what I've learned in their wake. The answer to my grief surely must be tangled in there somewhere. When my Meme, my Great Grandma Verna, passed away there was a moment that stood out, and I've carried it through the years unwittingly. As we all stood silently beside her grave, we were invited to sca...