The funny thing about grief is the way it sneaks up on you. You think that you're starting to manage it, that your emotions are on an even keel, that you're prepared for the difficult moments, but then some unexpected tiny detail smacks you in the face, and POW! The grief is back in full force.
It might be a whiff of his sweaty shirt that didn't make it into the laundry yet.
It might be drinking his favorite cocktail and suddenly being transported back to the taste of gin on his lips when he kissed you.
It might be finding a forgotten wedding photo.
It might be going to a restaurant you haven't been to in a while and the waitress asks about him.
It be getting a haircut at a salon instead of at Supercuts and remembering how excited he was when you finally treated yourself a little.
It might be driving your kids to Scout camp by yourself instead of with him.
It might be scanning your texts to find some important bit of information and instead finding a flirty text exchange with him.
It might be your car needing an oil change and realizing you have to do it yourself this time.
It might be putting on a dress that he bought for you.
It might be putting on a dress and realizing that he always zipped it up for you because you can't reach the last bit by yourself.
It might be struggling to open a jar and not being able to knock in his office door and say, "Oh, strong husband, I need you..."
It might be seeing an ad for a singing group you both love playing at a nearby venue and realizing that it wouldn't be fun to go to without him.
It might be rolling over in bed and realizing the other side is empty.
It might be cooking to the music of Michael Buble and not having a dance partner and a sous chef.
It might be getting your own coffee in the morning instead of having him bring it to you in bed.
It might be coming across a silly meme and starting to forward it to him before you remember.
It might be having to make a decision and wanting to run it by someone but no-one is there.
It might be watching the final episode of a show you were binge-watching together.
It might be seeing your children be mature and brave and kind and wise and wonderful and wanting to share that parental pride.
It might be mastering a skill you never thought you would and thinking how proud (but not surprised) he would be.
It might be any one of a thousand things that you'd done as a team for the past couple of decades and now you're doing it alone.
It might be nothing at all, except that suddenly you are struck by the deepest pain and sense of loss that you can possibly imagine, and you don't know how you can possibly go on, and yet you do, because you have to. Because your children need you. Because he would want you to. Because quitting is not an option.
Emotions are complicated. They change constantly, they grow and shrink and rise and fall. There is love, there is guilt, there is pain, there is anger, there is hope, there is emptiness. They are all there all at once, and they are painful and overwhelming and deep and comforting and agonizing. They are cathartic and they are cleansing and they are hurtful and they are powerful. And they are confusing.
I keep thinking of a scene from the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, an episode called "The Body." When Buffy's mom dies unexpectedly (from natural causes, a rarity on the show), each character deals with it differently. But one of the characters, a former immortal demon who has become human, gives a heart-wrenching speech as she struggles to understand the concept of death.
Here is some of what she says: "I don't understand how this all happens, how we go through this. I mean, I knew her, and then she's - there's just a body. And I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead any more. It's stupid....And no one will explain to me why."And that's the really painful part: not knowing why. Why did God choose to end his life now? Why do cruel, hateful people live long lives but the life of someone wonderful and generous and kind and loving and giving, someone who makes the world a better place just by being in it, is cut short? I don't understand. No one will explain to me why.
The only way I can cope by relying on my faith. I am comforted by Isaiah 57:1-2, which says (emphasis mine), "The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness."
No one understands death. But we have to accept it, because it is part of life. Every life. This is not the first death I've had to deal with, and it will likely not be the last. But it is the hardest. And the most incomprehensible. And the path of grief I travel will be the most tangled, the most laden with unexpected blows and emotional regressions and dead ends and u-turns and detours. And grief will continue to smack me in the face. But I will go on. Because I don't need to understand, I simply need to trust.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)