Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Do you ever recover from grief? I say, yes.

You never know how your words will affect someone else. My dental hygienest, Laurie, made a profound observation that has forever changed my way of thinking about the deaths of loved ones. She did not talk to me of spiritual things, afterlife, religious beliefs, but her comment was eye-opening. I just sent my story off to Chicken Soup Grief and Recovery. The deadline is May 31st. We have all been touched by grief and loss, and we have all gotten through it somehow. Perhaps your story will positively impact others. Why don't you write about it today and send it off tomorrow? NOT today, because the first version you write will have too many words, personal details and raw emotions. Your revision may be exactly what they want. Plus it is cathartic. I will be reading my story at Wired Coffee Open Mic.

8 comments:

Lisa Ricard Claro said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lisa Ricard Claro said...

Oops - I messed up!! LOL Let's try again. I believe the answer to your question may be different for everyone. For me, it is "no". I do not think we get over a loss, but we do become adept at coping with it. For instance, when my parents died I cried daily for months...then weekly...then monthly...now rarely. Still, the grief catches me unaware -- a song on the radio, an old photo, talking with my siblings about our folks.

I also submitted a couple stories to CS Grief & Recovery but haven't heard back yet. Keeping my fingers crossed. Good luck to you with your submission (be cool if we are both in the same CS book again) and with your reading.

Linda O'Connell said...

Lisa,
I do agree; a song or a remnider can also set me off at the most unexpeceted times, but I think we learn coping skills. I wish you and I could make it into a dozen more CS books. I'll bet we've submitted to many of the same titles. Good luck to you.

Lynn said...

Thanks for the reminder Linda as I had planned on sending something in... the list is a mile long. But I have until the end of May. I want to be in a book with you too! :-)

Pat Wahler said...

Good luck to all. Hope you get good news soon!


Pat

Mary said...

I'm very glad to know that it sometimes takes that long, Linda. Thank you for the information! And I hadn't thought to look at things the way you stated and I found that very interesting and helpful. Very encouraging and I thank you!

BECKY said...

So, what did Laurie, the dental hygienest, say that was so profound? As I read, I kept thinking you'd tell us in the next sentence!
And I agree with Lisa. I don't think we ever get over our grief. We just keep on living....sometimes questioning over and over: "Why?"

Donna Volkenannt said...

Hi Linda,
Thanks for the reminder about the submission deadline. I've been thinking about sending something, but I'm not looking forward to dredging up the pain of the loss.
Anyway, thanks for a thoughtful post.
Donna