Last week I woke up in the middle of the night crying and so I started writing as I find it really helps me to process my emotions and feelings. This is what I wrote.
Yesterday was one of the hardest, challenging and yet most beautiful days of my life. However I was not alone in feeling this.
Yesterday a whole community said goodbye and we did him proud. We came together as we always do and we celebrated his life in the place where his heart will always remain.
Even though we had over a year knowing that this day would eventually come, it was nowhere near long enough to fully prepare us. How could it be?
He was always there if you needed him. If anyone ever needed something, anything, he would sort it, fix it or make it happen. He always turned up and would go to extraordinary lengths to do so.
Yesterday as I looked across the room at all the people, so many people, I realised that I’d been waiting for him to join us. He was always late because he’d been working or volunteering his time to help someone somewhere.
All day I’d been expecting to see his cheeky, mischievous and slightly grubby face turn round the corner any moment dressed in his trademark grey polo shirt and grey tracky bottoms, proudly holding aloft a freshly ironed, checked shirt like a prize he’d just won.
Yesterday I realised this time for the first time ever he wouldn’t be coming and today as I continue to weep for the loss of my very dear friend, I know I am not alone. I share his loss with so many people and it brings me some comfort knowing my grief is not mine alone.
Yesterday, what Crispy did in his death, as he did in life, was remind each of us what life is really about and what really matters.
That love and friendship never die!
Writing did help me and as I shared these words on social media, I received so much love and support from friends and family with many people reaching out to check I was ok.
This week it has been a year since my father-in-law passed away and I reached out to check in on other family members to see if they were ok.
Grief comes to us all. There is no escaping grief however grief is not something you have to experience alone. Today's Focus on Grief is a reminder that whilst death touches us all, we are all connected and love and friendship never die.
ACTION POINT - Celebrate life, love and friendship!
Amy