It  was the 4th anniversary of our son’s death, and I was having a difficult time.  My husband was working out of town, and this meant for the first time we would be apart on this date.

I turned to the woods, a place I find myself often when I seek peace.  As I started the trail, I noticed a tree that was bent and twisted.  Despite the fact that the base of the trunk was nothing but a shell,  the tree continued to live and  strive to reach the sun.

I felt a kinship with that tree.  At times, I felt like a shell of my old self, yet a part of my soul was wanting to find my sunshine again.

Isn’t it wonderful that the universe remains constant? Even if our world feels like it has collapsed, the universe remains the same. In my early grief, I was angry that the rest of the world continued after Clint’s death.  Now I find comfort in that consistency.  The sun is in its place even if I don’t see it.

Further along on the trek, my eyes embraced nature at work around me and my heart began to understand that I could learn things from this adventure. Take the river, for example. I saw sections of raging currents of turbulent water followed soon by calm peaceful pools.  Some parts of the same river appeared impossible to cross, yet just around the bend of the trail, I found large boulders that created easy crossings.  My grief journey is like the river; at times, it is calm and other times, it is raging.

When I feel that my grief is impossible to cross, I need only to be patient and take it one step at a time.

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Debra Reagan

Debra Reagan lives in East Tennessee with her husband of 33 years. They have one surviving son. Debra is the co-founder of Listening Hearts, http://listening-hearts.memory-of.com/About.aspx a non-profit corporation designed to help bereaved mothers. After some turbulent and confusing experiences, her youngest son, Clint, received the dual diagnosis of bipolar disorder and a drug addiction. Their lives changed forever when Clint died on August 6, 2005, at the age of 20 of an accidental overdose and bronchial pneumonia. Debra can be reached through the website she maintains for her son at www.clint-reagan.memory-of.com. Debra was a guest on the radio show “Healing the Grieving Heart” talking about “Getting Through Mother’s Day.” To hear Debra being interviewed on this show by Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley, click on the following link: www.voiceamericapd.com/health/010157/horsley051007.mp3

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