National Grief Awareness Day August 30

Grief has touched millions of lives at one point or another and many have grieved several times. I know grief well, two of my close friends in high school died, my father died in 1992, my Granny died in 2005 and my Gramp’s in 2010. Everyone grieves differently and there is no time frame regardless of what people say. Who would tell a parent how long to grieve for their child, I would pray that no one is that uneducated. My father commited suicide and I spent seven years grieving yet as much as I loved my Grandparents and as close as we were, I grieved less. Maybe it was because I was a caregiver to both.

The key to grieving is giving yourself the time you need yet not get stuck there. We all have to move forward.

What Is National Grieving Awareness Day About?

Grief is one of the oldest and most enduring aspects of the human experience. If you haven’t yet experienced grief, it’s unfortunately likely to happen. The term ‘grief’ encompasses all of the emotions around a loss, and ‘mourning’ is defined as the external expression of the pain. ‘Bereavement’ is another commonly-used term for grief. Throughout human history, there have been many attempts to describe and heal grief, and they have changed significantly over the years.

Due in part to our vastly improved physical and mental healthcare, grief is understood far differently today than even as little as 100 years ago. While we often have the privilege (for some, even the expectation) of only losing our loved ones when they are at a ripe old age, comfortable, and with family nearby, this has rarely been the case throughout history. The lack of modern transportation often separated loved ones, wars ravaged populations, and poor medical and sanitation knowledge led to too many untimely deaths. Throughout history, the deaths of loved ones have been far more common, and grief was understood differently.

Melinda

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National Grief Awareness Day