Self-care helps cope with grief

Self-care helps cope with grief

By Terri Steinbrink

Billings (MT) Gazette

November 27, 2023

Billings, MT—“Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith. It is the price of love.” Those words on a sign at River Stone Health Hospice Home reflect the reality of grief. Grief is not a problem to be solved or fixed. Grief is an experience that requires support rather than solutions. Seeing grief that way changes everything. Grief often comes in what feels like waves. Holidays, anniversaries and even something as simple as seeing your loved one’s favorite brand of peanut butter in the store can bring up waves of grief. As with ocean waves, when you stop struggling, the waves will carry you to shore. It’s important to remember that you will not go back to the same place where you began. Grief and the new realities that come with it will change you. Over time. your experience of grief will be different. Different doesn’t mean forgetting; it means rediscovering who you are and reengaging in the world.

[Editor’s Note: The author is a bereavement specialist and chaplain with RiverStone Health Hospice, Billings, MT.]