The Road to Recovery

After Grace passed away we received a lot of information about different organizations and support groups to help grieving families. We looked at a variety of them but settled on a pediatric bereavement support group run by UC Davis. Last night was our first session of the 8-week group.

Admittedly, I was a little apprehensive of attending such a group. I wasn't sure if I could handle hearing other people's loss while our pain is still so real. But no mater what the age of the child, nor the circumstances be it from illness or sudden death, we all lost a significant part of our lives. And for that we're all in the same boat.

After listening to many of the families I felt very fortunately we have such a strong and considerate support system. Some of the stories we heard of insensitivity or being abandoned by family and friends were heart wrenching. Holly and I are very fortunate to have each other and be able to communicate so well with one another.

I'm going into this as a learning experience. I feel we have addressed the loss of Grace and perhaps even hit rock-bottom. We can only go up from here. As I told Holly last night, the one emotion that is the strongest in me is how much I still miss her. I'm not plagued by sadness or depression, but I can't stop missing her. And that I think will simply take time to subside.

So we welcome this new road to recovery. We hope it will help us deal with our loss and move forward with our lives. Grace will always be in our heart and so many others.