Many times people just don’t have a clue as to how to react or what to say to the family when someone they know passes away. First and foremost, tell them you’re sorry for their loss. Second, it means a lot when someone drops you a note about what the deceased person meant to them. Third, don’t think that after a short time they’ve moved on or gotten over their loss. It takes time and healing to get through our individual journey of grief. Let the family know you’re still thinking of them. Sometimes people think mourning takes a year — and things should be pretty normal. Not so.

In many, many cases, a year is nothing on the radar blip of grief and in this brief timeframe a lot of us are just getting started. We’ve figured out our loved one isn’t coming back, hopefully we’ve settled into some semblance of our life as it is now, and we’re just discovering what it really means to be alone. Trust me, a year in the life of the grieving, is nothing.

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