What Your Grieving Friend Really Needs
Until you have been spouse of someone for 40 plus years it is impossible to comprehend how debilitating grief is. I lost my father, but my mother lost her husband, her soul mate. My mother spent the last 7 years of my father’s life selflessly caring for him, the last year of my father’s life assisting him with basic human needs while preserving his dignity. She showered him, helped him use the restroom, fed him, she became his lifeline. Slowly I watched my parents go from a dynamic inseparable duo to my mother learning how to live life as a soloist. Losing my father has shattered my heart, but watching my mother endure losing her soul mate has taken my grief to a whole new level, often leaving me breathless, devastated and feeling utterly alone.