We're giving, taking experiencing, sharing, loving and struggling
We are here on a visa,
For this is not our permanent home.
Finding a quiet place
Can remind us that,
After we die, we will come home to where our passport is valid.
With these words from the first page of their book, ABC's of Healthy Grieving, Harold Ivan Smith and Steven L. Jeffers set the background for their guidebook for bereavement.
Death is the most permanent of facts. Smith and Jeffers recognize that nothing can change the loss that has interrupted a griever's life. Therefore, the question they pose for the griever is not, "What will you do about your grief." But rather, "What will you do with your grief." In their book, Smith and Jeffers say that grief is not a problem to be solved. Instead, it's an opportunity to be seized.
The book is written in short, "stand-alone," single-page pearls of wisdom. ABC's of Healthy Grieving is an invaluable resource for both grievers and professionals offering counsel and support to grievers.
When you get ready
To leave those dark places behind
--having well done your grief--
leave behind
a candle and a match
for those who will next occupy this sacred space
Called grief.
