Loss For Words

In the past, I never knew what to say to people who lost their loved ones to death. I felt that everything I said wasn’t enough to express the heartbreak I had for them.

I thought that once I experienced immense loss (like losing my husband to cancer), I would suddenly know how to comfort other people who also experience tragedy.

This makes sense, right? Once I experience trauma, I would then know how to help someone else who experienced something similar.

Well…I was totally wrong!

Recently, some of my friends have experienced the death of a loved one. I immediately reached out to them. But, I had no idea what to say. I found myself struggling to find adequate words of love and comfort.

Since Brady’s death, I’ve definitely learned what not to say. But, I still don’t know what to say to those who have experienced death first hand.

Death is so horrific. It changes the way you live and the way you view the world. Loss will bring on countless emotions like sadness, regret, guilt, anger, etc.

I now realize that words can’t make that better; words can’t lessen the heartache.

Most of us want to fix things. We want to take away the pain from those we love. The truth is that we can’t take sorrow away from others. Nothing we say can comfort those who are grieving their people.

For those of you who don’t know what to say when someone dies, you’re not alone by any means. But, I encourage you to still reach out. Even if you say “I have no idea what to tell you,” saying something is still better than saying nothing.