HE LEFT ME ON OUR ANNIVERSARY

a) "He said he loved me. That he had a surprise for our anniversary. I know he wouldn't leave me after saying something like that."

b) Grief is a strong and overwhelming emotion that can be difficult to understand and experience. It is, perhaps, one of the most frustrating, depressive, confusing, and lonesome emotion all at once driving us away from feeling anything but a sudden numbness to everything around. We lose all sense; we taste nothing; see in black and white, and feel empty. We are a blank piece of paper.

c) But through grief and allowing ourselves to feel vulnerable, to feel fragile, to break-down and to grieve, we also allow ourselves to heal. Each emotion and step we enter is another step closer in building who we are again. We learn to accept what has happened and accept what we have lost (person, item or experience). The 5 Stage of Grief allows us to cope with our loss. Introduced by Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in1969, her work has been a model that has brought us 1 step closer in understanding human emotions. As stated by Kubler-Ross, the 5 stages of grief do not have to be experienced in a linear fashion and can be experienced out of order or multiple times.

d) The 5 Stages of Grief: 

i) Denial.

ii) Anger.

iii) Bargaining.

iv) Depression.

v) Acceptance.

e) In the end, every person experiences grief differently and often times, out of order. Grief can occur in many situations other than death, like being diagnosed with a terminally ill disease or losing a prized possession. Grief can also reemerge years after. It is also common to experience the same stage multiple times before moving on to the next. In the end, it is important to allow yourself to grieve. By grieving, we open ourselves to others who support and help us through the difficult times in our lives.