Grief is Love

Understanding Grief / Understanding Grief : Eleanor Haley



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What is grief in relation to love? Quite often I think they're the same thing.

When people think of love they often think of hearts, romance, and warm-fuzzies, but love is far more complicated.

Love can be positive and amazing, yes, but it can also cause the worst kind of pain.

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Grief is love.

Perhaps the most painful kind of love is called grief, which happens when the object of a person's love is taken away with no hope for return.

Grief is love and the confusion caused by not knowing how to love someone who is gone. 

Grief is love's frustration, bitterness, anger, and resentment at death's destruction.

Grief is love realizing, if it wants to thrive, it has to be creative and find new ways to connect and be fulfilled.

Grief is love's unwillingness to give up.  It's stretching bonds and redefining limits in order to create a space where you can love someone in their eternal absence.

Grief is love.

I know you may not believe me, because right now grief seems like a nightmare. I'll admit that some days I don't believe it myself, but then one of our readers says something tender or shares a loving memory or does something supportive for a fellow reader and I'm reminded that underneath it all, grief is love.

Some of you reading this may be feeling alienated, isolated, sad, and alone.  We want to remind you, that underneath the stress, frustration, anger, disappointment, despair, guilt, loneliness, and sorrow of grief - quite often, there is love.

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We invite you to share your experiences, questions, and resource suggestions with the WYG community in the discussion section below.

We invite you to share your experiences, questions, and resource suggestions with the WYG community in the discussion section below.

We wrote a book!

After writing online articles for What’s Your Grief
for over a decade, we finally wrote a tangible,
real-life book!

After writing online articles for What’s Your Grief for over a decade, we finally wrote a tangible, real-life book!

What’s Your Grief? Lists to Help you Through Any Loss is for people experiencing any type of loss. This book discusses some of the most common grief experiences and breaks down psychological concepts to help you understand your thoughts and emotions. It also shares useful coping tools, and helps the reader reflect on their unique relationship with grief and loss.

You can find What’s Your Grief? Lists to Help you Through Any Loss wherever you buy books:

Let’s be grief friends.

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37 Comments on "Grief is Love"

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  1. Ellie Abrams  March 2, 2023 at 12:05 am Reply

    The more you love the more you grieve.I LOST my husband of 64 years two years ago and I will never be the same..it is worth it all because I had 64 great years of more love than I can say. You would not grieve if you did not love.

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  2. David Kohn  February 28, 2023 at 2:29 pm Reply

    The “Grief is Love” reminder from Eleanor is a sweet, and painful reminder to me. It reminds me how much I love my parents who both died (Dad died in 1998 and Mom on February 21, 2017). I still have grief-episodes which are sweet, emotional painful, comforting and sometimes are memories that give me a strength to carry on moment-by-moment.

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  3. Joe  March 3, 2022 at 8:53 am Reply

    My dear princess passed away January 17th, 2022. We have been married for 52 years. My heart is broken. Jesus, our family and friends are holding me together. This is the worst hurt I have ever felt in my life. I am thankful that my sweet, precious, soulmate is in heaven no longer in pain from the cancer that took her from us. I love you princess with all that I am. My love for you will never die.

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  4. mark  February 15, 2022 at 1:25 am Reply

    I lost the love of my life after 33 yrs ,she was only 56 this was on Dec 9 of this yr , i feel so alone and broken

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    • Jamie  February 20, 2022 at 8:21 pm Reply

      I’m so sorry for your loss. I only knew my love for 4.5 yrs and it’s been very hard to accept that I will never see him again. He died on Dec 2, he was 52. Too young and it all happened too fast. I don’t have many regrets but I wish there had been more time to have fun. I hope you have people to talk to about your loved one

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  5. Kendra  February 13, 2022 at 4:25 am Reply

    Grief is LOVE♡

    Its been 5 years now since i lost my mom, grandma, And my dog.
    My birthday is on Valentines Day. So its a hard day for me. My family has taught me unconditional love and this year is going to be the year that i can finally give and teach unconditional love to someone else.

    5 years is a long time to most but 5 years doesnt seem long enough. It still hurts. Its still tough. I still cry.
    I still dream.

    But i am learning and becoming stronger on how to wake up and face reality. Its hard to live without them everyday but i also have to remember that life is a gift and im more than grateful to have shared the time that i did with them.

    I will see them again
    My love for them will never disappear.
    My love for them is what helps me keep going

    FAMILY IS LOVE. GRIEF IS LOVE.

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    • Treana  March 2, 2022 at 9:15 am Reply

      I am completely broken.💔 My beloved husband transitioned 1/18/22. I am a mess!! We’ve been together for almost 8 yrs and married for 1. My days are all a blur. We have 7 children blended and 3 of our babies are about to graduate from high-school starting in 3 months. How will I get through this without him? He’s my best friend. My balance. Ughhh… why God?! Why do this to us?!😔💔

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  6. Judy  February 12, 2022 at 9:53 am Reply

    I am grieving the loss of my husband a year ago l never associated grief as love until l read your post l can see why l am grieving deeply l loved my husband very much and l will griev till the day l die. I am so glad to have got this post Thank you

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  7. Debbie  January 15, 2022 at 12:08 am Reply

    Grieving…ah yes it is a reflection of the powerful love we shared with ones who we no longer see.
    Yet they are always with us, woven as golden threads in the tapestry of our soul. They are never really gone.
    They pop up every day in subtle winds and gestures and places and feelings and songs. Part of us always.

    I lost the love of my life, my soulmate tragically a few years ago. I’m not the same. Just learning to cope.
    It’s comforting to hear the experiences of others!
    Be strong everyone…we’ll all be together in due time.

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  8. asha sharma  August 27, 2021 at 8:11 am Reply

    I do not know who should I thank you now. My husband passed away due to Covid. All alone living in the house own my on. No family at all to hold me when I was all alonefalling with the weight of grief. My younger son and my Neighbour my work colleague showed their best gesture during this time but No one can ever imagine what I have gone through. I am so thankful to my beloved late husband who was still there with me in the same house in the form of his memories. God made me to live in this world with out my life partner. No words can express the feelings I have face in this time of my loss. No one can realise this loss without losing someone . I wish No one should face the way I had to see it.

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    • Edward  September 15, 2021 at 6:20 am Reply

      I was drawn to this page because I asked a question about grief being love. I know you feel alone. And in a sense we all are. At the same time we’re connected by the same thing. Love.
      I’m happy you have such a powerful love, it’s the only thing that will help us. Stay strong

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    • Vickie  February 15, 2022 at 9:01 pm Reply

      I wanted to reach out to you because my husband passed away as well due to covid just last month. Unless you have been through this there is just no words to describe the void and the pain and my heart and yours and many many others. All I can do is pray 🙏🙏. I believe we’re going in another direction we never dreamed of however I know God is walking us through every single step!

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  9. Charles Gregory Rhodes  September 7, 2020 at 6:49 pm Reply

    I disagree with the Rabbi’s comment below. It’s not that we don’t want to let them die it’s that it takes our brain so long to realize someone is gone. Neuroplasticity is great but it’s a slow process. The past couple of months I decided it was time to move on. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy but I’ve been doing it. Toughing it out. Today I was feeling fatigued and then boom. I started crying uncontrollably. I was tired of being tough. I had to be me. There are no easy paths to healing. To give a blanket statement like people don’t let their loved ones die is insensitive. I know I’ve been trying. I’ve been doing group therapy, individual therapy, reading articles, books, spending time in nature and praying. But never have I wanted her back on this planet with all her diseases. And when she died I felt great relief and joy. So leave me out of your bias and stereotypes towards those in grief.

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  10. Patricia Castellano  May 7, 2020 at 9:22 am Reply

    This makes so much sense. Grateful for finding signs of grounding in nature.

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  11. Krystal  March 4, 2020 at 11:42 am Reply

    Lost my partner last Thursday to a massive heart attack. He was a struggling addict who wanted nothing more than to fight off his demons.. he had an appointment for treatment the next morning. I miss him so much and everyday is a struggle but I know that I will get through . I don’t know how but I know it is possible.

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  12. Jessica Zulueta  March 4, 2020 at 10:49 am Reply

    Thank you for this article, I have been struggling to put how I feel into words and this is spot on. My fiance passed away very unexpectedly 11-02-2019 and I’m having a hard time understanding the feelings I have. This absolutely put it in perspective for me. I know I will always love and miss him., but beyond that I’ll miss who I was when I was with him
    She died that day with him
    .

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    • Daniel  December 27, 2021 at 3:39 pm Reply

      Your last words she died, as I feel the same, I get it totally, it’s been 6 months and I have such a hard time every day feeling the same way as 35 years are gone and I want 35 more from her and can’t get them other than in my memory or photos. It’s so difficult cause I know that I can’t give another, the love they deserve.

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  13. Karen Douglas  January 2, 2020 at 11:46 pm Reply

    I lost my boyfriend 1-6-14 to cirrhosis of the liver. He was 51. Lost my Dad 8-29-16 he had lewy body dementia, and a client (i am a medical assistant and i chose to take care of senior citizens in their home) who passed on , on 5-17-17, and i was with him and my Dad for their last breaths, so i was able to zay goodbye to them, but my bf i found in our bedroom already gone about an hour before i got home, so i had no closure and i am having a hard time with it…but he wouldnt want me to be sad and crying all the time, so I try my best to keep my head up and smile.

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    • Denise  May 25, 2022 at 5:46 pm Reply

      I understand how you feel. As it is insistent and persistent. I also lost a fiance to liver and kidney failure. It started with an infection in his system from a wound in his hand. Not only am I still in shock that his death was the end result from a wound, it is aggrevating that my loss was belittled by anyone in the hospital on down the line since we had not been married I was completely cut off from having any part of his burial. That was reserved for family. Family he didn’t have. We were each others family, friend, mate, love, partner, guide everything! Even his health surrogate. And the hospital neglected to call me even then. All due to not yet having been married. As if I loved any less or my loss was any less without a piece of paper. I was even denied his ashes. What a sorry world when every person thinks of loss as materialistic. What I wanted, what we had could not ever be left in a will or estate. Our love for each other and the closeness and comfort we shared that could never be had again, given or shared with another, yet with a value greater than anyone will ever know. This was what I lost, not anything relative to materials. We lost each other and our ability of sharing that love. I don’t understand why a piece of paper makes others believe our loss of mate is any less devastating to unmarried couples to the extent we can’t even say goodbye properly. My love will never be the same for it has stayed with him where ever he may be.
      Sorry I needed to vent. A piece of paper is not proof of who feels pure love and grieves the loss of that person love. Pure and simple.

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  14. P. L  September 25, 2019 at 2:03 pm Reply

    This blog really resonated with me. I came across another person’s comment that ‘grief is the price you oat for love’. That didn’t fit for me because I believe love is a gift not a commodity that must be paid for. So when I googled grief and love this website was the first that I read. Thank you for this perspective because I certainly have felt and continue at times to feel the frustration, bitterness, anger, and resentment of grief. I’ve also have felt the beauty and joy of learning to have a ‘different’ relationship with my daughter who no longer is in a physical body. I know and have experienced that who she is lives on and I look forward to a time when it will be easier because we will be together.

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  15. Erin  April 10, 2019 at 8:55 pm Reply

    I have found that I feel most ALIVE when I am feeling overwhelming grief. It must be the profound LOVE! Thank-you for helping me understand this.

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  16. Liz canpbell  February 14, 2019 at 4:05 pm Reply

    I am thankful.for my foster parents in my life.love and miss them so much.will always love them. Both.

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  17. Parviz Ighani  December 20, 2018 at 6:41 pm Reply

    Beautiful article and great insights shared here. It is true, grief is an expression of deep remorse for not having loved more fully a loved one who no longer is physically accessible. One could even be grief-stricken right in the presence of a loved one, dreading the prospects of someday that such closeness may not be possible❤️

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    • Damian Darnell  March 19, 2021 at 2:10 am Reply

      #BIGFACTS

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  18. Rabbi Mel Glazer  August 29, 2016 at 3:27 pm Reply

    I agree, grief is parallel to love. That is why, at all the funerals at which I officiate, family and friends stand up and relate stories and lessons and teachings from the loved one. Some even all it a celebration of life, not a funeral.
    My only problem (and I am a grief expert, authored 3 books, D.Min. in counseling, host a weekly radio show), is that our society doesn’t know how to “lay them gently down.” In its essence, we don’t let them die, and we aren’t capable of understanding how to move from loss to healing. No one ever taught us, and society only teaches us how to acquire things and people, but not how to let them go. So we do the best we can with mourning and therapy and all the rest, but mostly we keep them right there on our shoulders. So they didn’t really yet die.
    Please don’t misunderstand, but our job is to to truly let them die (not forget them, God forbid), to complete our relationship with them, and then to move on.
    We didn’t die (yet), and we need to celebrate that, even in the face of loss.

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    • Denise  May 25, 2022 at 5:55 pm Reply

      I know that I am still alive and cannot follow my partner. Even so I still hold much love for him and feel that I lost a part of myself that is gone for it left along with him where it lives apart from me now.

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  19. Glenda  July 30, 2016 at 11:53 pm Reply

    I am grateful for family

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  20. Monique  July 20, 2016 at 9:28 am Reply

    Where do we do this?

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    • Eleanor  July 21, 2016 at 2:40 pm Reply

      Hey Monique, we’ve been doing the gratitude challenge on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages which we’ve linked to at the bottom of the post. Although this is also a helpful coping skill that anyone can do on their own and in their own time.

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  21. Diane Loos  July 16, 2016 at 12:31 pm Reply

    Beautiful piece. Thank you! I’m trying to “Share” it on my FB page, as I know it will resonate with people, but when I tried – this is the error message shown: App Not Setup: This app is still in development mode, and you don’t have access to it. Switch to a registered test user or ask an app admin for permissions. ???

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  22. Suzy  July 16, 2016 at 7:16 am Reply

    I am grateful my parents took me into their home after I lost my son to a drug overdose
    I’ve been negative and complaining towards them without considering what they’ve given me
    Gratitude can be life changing

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  23. Jane  July 15, 2016 at 1:21 pm Reply

    I am grateful for my father that shows me love and kindness.

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  24. Kristen  July 15, 2016 at 5:13 am Reply

    I am grateful got my Dad and younger brother…

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  25. John  July 14, 2016 at 9:23 pm Reply

    Powerful. Often-times we are made to feel that our sorrow/grief at the loss of someone indicates a guilt about what we did NOT do , while the person was alive. This is a creative and healthful look at the other side of the issue ….THANKS !!!!

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    • Cathy  July 15, 2016 at 3:34 am Reply

      I agree, I was beginning to believe this myself. So, yes thank you!

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  26. Mel  July 14, 2016 at 6:49 pm Reply

    Beautiful writing; thank you. I will accept this challenge as I have been feeling myself being pulled down by the weight of grief.

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  27. Leigh  July 14, 2016 at 4:56 pm Reply

    I am grateful for that article and your description of grief as love.

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