Grief and Living

Nothing can truly prepare you for the loss of a loved one. You can live your whole life knowing that one day your parents will die, but you will never be ready for that to happen.

Mom and dad in 2008

On March 5, 2009, my mother died of a sudden illness. My sister and niece were in North Carolina visiting us and my mother was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday night and passed away on Thursday morning. She went into surgery for what they thought would be a gall bladder issue, but never recovered.

Mom and Shelly 2004 

If you have a strong bond with someone and then they die your heart is somehow damaged in that loss. And, I'm not sure how long the grief will last, but for some it may be a lifetime. Life will go on and things will settle into a new normal. The grief will ebb and flow and you'll have good days and terrible days.

Mom at the 50th wedding anniversary celebration in 2006

I was struck by the recent interview that Liam Neeson did with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes. His words were so poignant and real. I was very touched by how he expressed his grief for his wife (Natasha Richardson who died from a head injury while skiing). Here's a part of that interview (click on the link).

Kathy, Mom, Me, and Lin

And, today, I will try to put the grief aside and concentrate on the love I have for a woman who was beyond compare.

"Many women act competently, but you 

surpass them all!"  Proverbs 31:29

Mom and dad at my wedding

Helen Louise Ande Ruesch