Give Yourself Space to Grieve

If you take time to grieve real time then you won't have to watch the replay.

This past November I lost two mighty men in my life: my uncle and my father-in-law. Although they had both live very rich and rewarding lives and were in their late 70s, it's still burns that they have gone on to join the ancestors.

My Uncle Lewis was my first investor for my media company. My whole life has been there in the background loving me and supporting me. Although he had no biological children, I fancied myself his favorite niece. You know a person is wonderful when every niece and nephew thinks themselves his favorite. He was the first person I knew to come down with COVID-19 last spring... and he kicked it's butt! And so when he died quietly in his sleep six months later it was a shock.

My father-in-law was a proud veteran who used to love telling us wild stories of his army days (one involved a drag queen!). There were so many people's lives that he touched and they never even knew what he had done. Pay a bill here, fix something there, have a stern talking to that might have included a shaking of his meaty fists... Whatever was needed at the time to get some straightening. He didn't have any biological daughters, so I fancy myself his favorite daughter-in-law. (No one can tell me differently!) When he contracted the virus in November, he didn't make it.

I was very quiet in the fall. It took 10x the strength for me to do normal activities and work on projects. So I took the extra time I needed. Things that I could push back, I did. Things that I couldn't... I still did. It is one of the rare times that I took full advantage of owning my own businesses - I set the hours and the pace that I could manage. I gave myself the space to breathe and to grieve.

Because I took the time to remember these wonderful men at the time of their transition, I can now move in again in joy and love. When you hurt, give yourself a chance to heal.