In October ’22 my dear friend Ana passed away unexpectedly. She was young, energetic, ambitious, gorgeous, sweet. She left behind three very young children, her husband, her parents and brother and many friends including myself.
After receiving the terrible news, I went straight to The Netherlands to be there, to attend and speech at the funeral and be with her husband, kids and friends. But at some point - I had to leave NL, go back to ‘normal’ life in Sydney. But what was normal life?
What was normal to everyone wasn’t normal to me anymore. I was wrapped in a blanket of grief. Work meetings, deadlines, school runs, groceries - it felt different, almost like a layer had been applied to my world.
I learned that within grief, for me, there are two big challenges;
Firstly, of course, missing the person that has left Earth. I felt the need to talk about what she was like, her life, her story. If I didn’t talk about her, she felt more gone. But how do you start these conversations and how do your friends and family understand this need. Do you just start talking? I was scared I’d cry and so was the other person.
Then secondly, it feels as if you're watching the world through a lense you have not asked for. Health, friendships, the quality of life, the realisation of not taking anything for granted - The work meetings, the grocery shopping - this new light on life.
I started looking for things that could help (books, grieving self help stuff) It was all so dark, black lined and ugly. I was looking for more ‘light’ stuff, for tools to talk about her, and organise my head. And also - something to give to her kids, her friends, her family.
Something colourful - like she was. And even now 1,5 yrs later I still need and love that.
So here we are - Stories to Cherish
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Grief is different to everyone, there is no right or wrong. Some days you drown, some days you swim. Time flies or the clock ticks slowly as. Everyone has different needs. At Stories we believe, TRULY believe, that talking about the person you miss, can help. It can help in breaking the silence, starting new conversations, help from isolated grief to helping each other more, understanding the other person, listening. Not hearing - listening! Grief is like a muddy puddle that gets stirred, all the sh*t comes to the surface - there is a lot to deal with. More than ‘just’ missing someone you loved.
There is no such thing as healing in grief, but by sharing stories you can help carry the grief more lightly and rebuild, expand your world around it. We wish to help you here.
Sending you love!