LIFE AFTER LOSS

◇ You lose at least half of yourself

◇ Grieving is pain, tears, anger, regrets, grief dreams, even heart pain (known as broken-hearted syndrome)

◇ You can love/be loved again

◇ You can have the pain of another loss again (big fear for most)

◇ You will always have the pain of your loss

◇ You will always love/miss your loss

◇ There is a mixture of pain and love together; imagine a rainstorm with a rainbow as you begin to heal, even find love again

◇ Your loss and new love will always have an overlap to a degree or more

◇ Loss pain does become more manageable with time

◇ Grief can be a mixture of all stages, even jumping from level to level, out of order

◇ The first 2 years are the hardest after a loss

◇ There is no limit in your time to grieve; as a matter of fact, once you've had a loss, there will always be grief to some degree, which leads to:

◇ We 'move forward', not 'move on'

◇ Our loss will always be a part of you/your children

◇ You have to heal first/refind yourself before finding love after loss

◇ Tears have to come in order to begin healing

◇ You will smile again