Grief

 When someone is grieving I’m a big believer in letting the person who is grieving tell you what he or she needs. The other way to handle grief is to interject oneself into another’s process. The interjection has effectively made another’s grieving process about himself or herself and not what another is feeling. When I first got sick so many people said sorry. I didn’t need sympathy or for another person to feel bad. Just keep it to yourself. For some reason we just jam sympathy down another’s throat.

When I was in the hospital I wanted to just disappear. When someone tells you what they need, you should really listen. Communication is both verbal and non-verbal. When grief plays a prominent role, we respond to the non-verbal. I think that’s why humans have a need to “help” others. They mean well but back off. Don’t be that person that makes the grieving person take care of him or her. It’s tacky.