These Past Months

A month ago my son’s brother-in-law passed away unexpectedly from a fentanyl overdose. It has had a devastating impact on all of our families. He was a young man of means with so much to live for, both in opportunities and future success. Two years ago my son-in-;aw died in a motorcycle accident, and he and his motorcycle were not found for ten days, ten days of hell for all of us.

These two young men made very bad choices. While they are deceased, we, the families, are suffering.

Part of living to be older is so many of the unimaginable events in life actually occur. The impact of these events is similar to the rock in the pond imagery, the ripples continue well past the incident. Mothers and fathers and siblings suffer the ongoing loss. My grandson will not grow up with his father. The scariest impact is the acute sadness.

Grief is the internalizing of what is thought and felt on the inside, while mourning is the outward manifestation of grief such as wearing black, talking to a counselor, and engaging in some form of expression.

While the services and final disposition of their remains is complete, the mourning period, for many of us the grief will continue.