Dealing With Grief

The most challenging crisis I can recall is the loss of my parents two years apart. Before then, I lost friends and extended family members but they were not as close to me. This was the first time I felt I had to be strong for my daughter and others. There was a wall of uncertainty that I discovered as my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. Shortly after that, my mother was diagnosed with colon cancer. I did not understand the purpose of the journey until I learned how to grieve. I had to learn and understand medical billing, healthy alternative lifestyles, and research the type of cancer each parent had. To make this journey more difficult, I was a single mother to a child that loved her grandparents more than anything. Explaining both …show more content…
I started an undergraduate program in Human Services. One of my first class was dealing with grief. The exercises in the workbook allowed me to understand a different perspective on life, illness and having closure. I did more reflections and reality checks on how my parents felt about dying, leaving their children behind and having peace to accept death. I cried, felt ashamed, and got angry before I felt peace. My peace come from me knowing my parents wanted more for me and my child. After finding peace, I found comfort from gaining more spirituality, volunteering at community events and understanding my feelings. It was good for me to identify my feelings and express them in a positive appropriate manner. I learned to acknowledge my biases and pre-justice, and learned from my lack of knowledge. As of today, I acknowledge my feelings and understand I can learn from everyone. If I can before address a crisis, I pray. After praying, I recite the serenity prayer. In knowing there are things I cannot change, I can provide support to others to make the pain or discomfort a little less. I take proud in knowing pain is part of the cycle of growth and for me to fulfill my purpose. I no longer carry the fear of pain and the uncertainty of the