Today is Thursday, April 29th, 2021; Karen's Korner #4439

This is something emailed to me several days ago by Charlotte Linden. The Lindens lived in Clarion a number of years ago, when her husband Eric was a school teacher here. He died a number of months ago.

This poem talks about enduring grief. It is a good one. I can remember asking Jim's cousin Wilma Aldrich, how long it took her to 'get over' her mom's unexpected death at 'not a very old age'. Her reply, "You don't get over it. You just get used to it.":

I had my own notion of grief.
I thought it was the sad time
That followed the death of 
someone you love.
And you had to push through it
To ge to the other side
But I'm learning there is no other side.
There is no pushing through
But rather,
There is absorption.
Adjustment.
Acceptance.
And grief is not something you complete. 
But rather, you endure.
Grief is not a task to finish
And move on,
But an element of yourself --
An alternation of your being,
A new way of seeing,
A new definition of self.

***

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