Wishes for someone Grieving
Wishes for the Grieving and Healing Heart opens with a heartwarming story of the water bug that turns into a dragonfly–a perfect metaphor for the transformation from physical form to spirit. It heralds a significant truth: When you lose someone you love, life will never be the same; you will never be the same. But you can fly again, and even higher, now able to “take the clarity from your experience and turn it into wisdom…take the pain and suffering and let it open your heart.” Wishes for someone grieving is a beautiful act of kindness.
Tricia LaVoice’s book is the story of her grief process, of how she survived the experience of losing both her parents in an automobile accident. Section One focusses on the grieving and healing process with a short reflection at the end of each essay. Section Two addresses the unique issues surrounding loss. A special section is included with a couple of stories about the author’s friends who lost beloved pets.
What I’d like to offer here is a handful of Tricia’s gems that will shine light along the path of your grief journey. Each of these gems contains a rich vein of truth that speaks to the essence of who you are. Carry them with you wherever you go. Allow them to heal and restore you.
“Take your bleeding heart and open it wide, letting your soul soar. Be someone’s angel in honor of your angel.”
“To live a full life again, you must walk right through the pain, cry, scream, do whatever you need to do to get the pain released. If you bottle it up and deny it its time, it will catch up with you. It is too great a force to try to beat, regardless of your tactics.”
“If you lost your arm, it is doubtful you would ever wake up and say, “I’m okay with the arm gone.” You would make adjustments and over time you would live with those adjustments without thinking about it all the time. Yet there would always be those rainy days where your arm ached at the point of amputation. A death works the same way. We adjust, but we never get over it.”
“Find people that do get it, and stay close to them while you are raw and cut open.”
“The right time, the only time to speak your truth is today, now. Write your child a love letter, open up to your mother, forgive your brother.”
“You can hide from so much in life, but never from your own thoughts, so just let them come and go.”
“Nothing will tear your heart open more than the loss of someone you deeply love. Devastated, yes, but now with the capacity to love and give that much more. That’s the gift in the loss; don’t cover it up to protect yourself from futher hurt. Stay exposed, open, loving.”
“Triggers come in all different manners. It could be a favorite song of your loved one, a familiar face, a particular place etc. Try not to react to them; just let them come and go until their presence slowly fades away.”
“It is an honor to serve someone in their darkest moments. I suggest that we all open our hearts and shepherd one another if we have the opportunity.”
“I am a survivor of my pain, not a victim of it.”
Wishes for someone grieving is generous, gracious, and reflects a heart of goodness.
I received this book for free from Hay House Publishing for review purposes.