"I sat back in the chair, took another long drink of coffee.
And noticed a specific and breathtaking absence.
At the moment, nothing hurt.
What I felt was only hope, that internal sunrise.
The image of his face came into my head, and I felt only my great luck at having had him for as long as I did.
I'd learned enough about grieving to know that the other ways of feeling would come back soon enough. But it seemed to me that this was the way we all lived: full to the brim with gratitude and joy one day, wrecked on the rocks the next. Finding the balance between the two was the art and the salvation."
~ elizabeth berg,
The Year of Pleasures
thank you for sharing this. it is beautiful and true.
This is so beautiful.
"full to the brim with gratitude and joy one day, wrecked on the rocks the next." Oh, yes.
"Finding the balance between the two was the art and the salvation.” Yup.
I've been thinking about you a lot lately. Your strength, honesty, transparency, faith, healing, etc. This Thursday marks a year since the death of my sister. We've gone through a whole year of firsts without her being physically here. This whole week I seem to be "wrecked on the rocks". My other sister reminds me that my sister would not have wanted us to be sad, angry, and moping around, she would want us to celebrate her life (I wish I could adopt her approach).
I have suffered from depression for as long as I can remember and my sisters death took me back many steps in my ability to cope. This excerpt really hits home of what this day to day journey looks like. Your words and stories have been very inspirational, Thank you for always sharing!