What Do We Do When Thanksgiving and Grief Collide?

@bethvogt

 

Our Thanksgiving holiday is complicated this year.

I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised. It is 2020, after all.

A world-wide pandemic doesn’t take a day off so we can observe our annual holiday traditions. Some of us have already decked our halls with fa-la-la-la-la because we just need a little Christmas right now – not later.

Then in the midst of all the “normal” coronavirus stuff, we’re hit with the unexpected. Our already weary shoulders shift to bear the weight of additional sorrows. My family is experiencing grief this holiday season, even as I walk alongside several dear friends who are reeling from tragedy.

Thanksgiving and grief are unlikely companions.

We don’t get to pick the timing of joys or sorrows … or whether the two collide.

For those just entering a season of loss and grief, even the word “thanksgiving” seems foreign. The idea … unfathomable. A day set aside as “Thanksgiving” with a capital “T” does not assuage grief.

Why muffle sorrow with obligatory thankfulness? Grief is an honest emotion that should be respected – not set aside because its timing is off. Maybe, in years to come, family and friends will be thankful they were given the emotional space to mourn.

As we continue to put one foot in front of the other as 2020 winds down, I pray we will not dread the dawning of each new day. As we are able, may we look for reasons to be grateful. Don’t let pandemic fatigue win.

Hope is a renewable commodity. I’m praying for you to find hope today.

What Do We Do When Thanksgiving and Grief Collide? https://bit.ly/2V5yynj #perspective #hope
Click To Tweet

'The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not get over the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it....' Quote by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross https://bit.ly/2V5yynj #grief #relationships
Click To Tweet