What Does Grieving Mean?
When someone we love dies, it hurts us. We feel sad that the person will no longer be around to talk to or to have fun with. That absence leaves a big hole in our lives. Maybe you had a pet that died. Remember the first few times you walked into the house after your dog or cat was gone? It was strange not to have your pet there. Maybe you cried — that’s OK. We need to mourn, or grieve, over losing people and animals and other things we love. But just like when you skin your knee, the first, intense pain will go away after a while. It takes time for your knee to heal, but it hurts less and less each day. It’s the same when somebody dies. That doesn’t mean we forget or stop missing people who died. After a while, we can go back to our lives, still loving them and remembering them always. Remembering people we love who have died is one way to keep them a part of us. Pictures help us do this. Looking at a photo album can help us remember fun times we had together. Lots of families bury the
