Grief is powerful. Whether from the death of a loved one, a traumatic event, loss of a friendship, divorce, miscarriage, or a chapter in your life ending, it can creep up on you out of nowhere and knock the wind out of you. It's a cloud that follows your every move, a dust storm that hits every crevice of your body, and a heavyweight that submerges you in deep waters of the unknown. In time, life can get better, but that loss and change doesn't ever go away. It's something that we learn to move around, under, and in.
Grief has no timeline, but understanding how it works can help us through the process.
According to expert Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a Swiss American psychiatrist, there are five stages of grief and loss. In her 1969 book, “On Death and Dying,” Kübler-Ross studied the five most common emotional reactions to loss:
denial
anger
bargaining
depression
acceptance
Below is a simple story I wrote to help break down the greiveing process for children - and adults. I've also added some book reccomendations. If you have any thoughts on grief, please leave me a message. I would love to continue the conversation.
A Hole in Heartsville By Jamie Edelbrock
Not far from here, there is a heart-shaped town called Heartsville. It is filled with mountains of courage, rivers of joy, and meadows of growing flowers. The townspeople work hard to keep the peace and beauty in their flourishing home.
One day a big rock slammed into Heartsville and left a giant hole.
First, the people of Hearstville were shocked. They all stood staring at the gaping hole. Next, the townspeople were in denial and pretended the hole wasn't there. They ignored it until they started falling into the giant hole.
This made them angry, and it wasn't long before they were frustrated that the hole was there. They spent days screaming and shouting at the hole.
After their anger melted away, they began wondering how they could have prevented the hole and started looking for ways to prevent it from happening in the future. Realizing the hole was there to stay and that there was nothing they could do to prevent it, the whole town was overcome with sadness. Their glittering sunny skies turned dark blue. They could barely get out of their beds, and tears fell from their eyes at every blink. The tears from their eyes started to fill the hole with water, and somehow, watching the waves brought them comfort.
With newfound comfort in their hearts, they started to feel better and began seeking solutions for the hole. They never fully figured out what to do with it, but they finally accepted that the hole was there to stay.
Much to their surprise, the path they paved around the hole while they stomped, cried, and contemplated began to shape into a road. One blue day, the sun started to shine again, flowers began to blossom along the path, and new roots began to braid a bridge over it.
Despite all of their effort, the hole never went away. Instead, it became a precious part of town that forever shaped how the townspeople strolled through the mountains of courage, splashed in the rivers of joy, and leaped in the meadows of growing flowers.
Although different, they found peace again in their beautiful heart-shaped town called Heartsville.
Children's Books About Grief (Click the picture for more information)
Adult Books About Grief (Click on picture for more information)
