A Death From A Long Illness Is

I Think That Grief Is A Profound Spiritual, Metaphysical, And - Oddly - Physical Reckoning With Death, Which We Don't Understand Well. It's Both The Process By Which You Relearn The World In The Absence Of Someone Who Was A Pillar In It, And The Process In Which You Confront The Reality Of Death.

I Am The Indoctrinated Child Of Two Lapsed Irish Catholics. Which Is To Say: I Am Not Religious.

All Love Stories Are Tales Of Beginnings. When We Talk About Falling In Love, We Go To The Beginning, To Pinpoint The Moment Of Freefall.

Many Americans Don't Mourn In Public Anymore - We Don't Wear Black, We Don't Beat Our Chests And Wail.

But There Is A Discomfort That Surrounds Grief. It Makes Even The Most Well-intentioned People Unsure Of What To Say. And So Many Of The Freshly Bereaved End Up Feeling Even More Alone.