I wish you wouldn't be afraid to speak my child name. My child
lived and was very important to me. I need to hear that he was
important to you also.
If I cry and get emotional when you talk about my child, I wish you
knew that it isn't because you have hurt me. My child’s death is the
cause of my tears. You have talked about my child and you have
allowed me to share my grief. I thank you for both.
being a bereaved parent is not contagious, so I wish you wouldn't
shy away from us. I need you now more than ever.
I need diversions, so I do want to hear about you, but I also want
you to hear about me. I might be sad and I might cry, but I wish you
would let me talk about my child; my favorite topic of the day.
I know that you think of and pray for us often. I also know that my
child’s death pains you too. I wish you would let us know these
things through a phone call, a card or note, or a real big hug.
I wish you wouldn't expect our grief to be over. These first years
are traumatic for us, but I wish you could understand that our grief
will never be over. We will suffer the death of our child until the day
we die
we're working hard in our recovery, but I wish you could understand
that I will never fully recover. We will always miss our child and we
will always grief that our baby Devin is gone.
I wish you wouldn't expect us "not to think about it" or "be
happy". Neither will happen for a very long time, so don't frustrate
yourself.
I don't want to have a "Pity party", but I do wish you would let us
grieve. We must hurt before we can heal.
I wish you understood how our lives have shattered. I know it is
miserable for you to be around us when we're feeling miserable. Please
be as patient with us as we are with you.
When we say, we're doing okay", I wish you could understand that we
don't "feel" okay and that we struggle daily.
I wish you knew that all of the grief reactions we're having are very
normal. Depression, anger, hopelessness and overwhelming sadness are all to be expected. So please excuse us when I'm quiet and withdrawn or irritable and cranky.
your advice to "take it one day at a time" is excellent advice. However, a day is too much and too fast for us right now. I wish you could understand that we're doing good tohandle an hour at a time.
Please excuse us if we seem rude, certainly not our intent. Sometimes
the world around us goes too fast and we need to get off. When we walk
away, I wish you would let us find a quiet place to spend time alone.
I wish you understood that grief changes people. When our children died,
a big part of us died with them. We’re not the same person we were
before our child’s died and we will never be that person again.
I wish very much that you could understand ~ understand our loss and
our grief.
But....
I pray daily that you will never understand.