Hope for the Grieving Spouse

The service is completed. Family and friends have gone back to their own lives. You have opened all the cards. Now you are left alone! This is the time when the paralysis seems the greatest. You have no idea what to do. You try to think, but you cannot concentrate on anything specific for any length of time. The easiest thing to do is to sit in that special chair, wrapped in that special blanket or piece of clothing that once belonged to your spouse, and do nothing else. You feel safe in that spot. It will be the spot where you will return to many times over the next months and maybe even years.

As you sit in your safe spot, please make one important decision: I am going to allow myself to grieve. That grieving time has no certain limit. It has no certain format for you to follow. It will be determined by the circumstances of your spouse’s death, your personality, your age and even your relationship with God. There is no book out there that will tell you exactly how to do your grieving. (However there are many good books out there to help you.) It will all depend on you and your willingness to allow yourself to grieve.