Grief

I am carrying a grief that doesn’t have a funeral.

People recognize grief when someone dies.

But there is another kind of grief—the grief of the life that I imagined.

The spontaneous family outings.

The conversations that I thought I’d have with Emma.

The dinners with my husband.

The vacations that feel impossible.

The freedom to leave the house without planning for every possibility.

That grief is real too.

And because it’s ongoing, people don’t always see it.

But it’s there.