Struggling to Remember the Past

Understanding Grief / Understanding Grief : Eleanor Haley



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Fourteen years after my mother's death, I find I'm not only grieving her but also my memory of her. I mean that literally, as in, I'm grieving the loss of actual memories as I struggle to really remember her in any tangible way. I want to feel her presence and see her clearly in my mind, but she's impossible to recreate. She's more abstract to me now than anything, and that's gutting. 

We always say our grief evolves and grows with us as time goes on. Sometimes that means finding new points of comfort and connection, and sometimes it means stumbling upon new losses. I guess I've stumbled again.  

As time goes by, I feel so far away and disconnected from the past that I suddenly have an intense yearning to go back. To fill in my spotty memory with the smallest of things, like the smell of my grandmother's freshly washed towels or the sound of my mother's voice as she takes the kitchen wall phone off the receiver and says "hello."  

I like many things about my life in the present. But if I could turn around and walk into the past, knowing I'd find my way back here again to the people I love, I'd do it in a heartbeat. No one tells you when you're young that life can change so much. That one day, you may realize the people and places of your past feel like they're from a completely different story. 

I'm suddenly almost angry that I can't go back to before. I accept that my mother is dead, but must not fully accept that the past is the past because I keep reaching for it and finding over and over again that it's gone. It's a repetitive ache, like the chronic pain of a once broken bone. 

People have shared with us that they struggle to remember the past and their loved ones, which is a troubling secondary loss. They connect to an idea of their loved one but struggle to access specific memories of them. Sometimes this is because their memories faded over time and sometimes because they had limited memories in the first place. 

I recognize that many people early on in their grief fear this will eventually happen, so I'm sorry if this conversation exacerbates your worry. Remember, there's no guarantee you will ever feel any particular way in grief. And if you struggle to remember the past someday, know there are many ways to feel psychologically connected to your loved one that can bring you comfort.

All that said, let's take a few minutes to brainstorm ways to connect with memories of a loved one, especially when you feel disconnected.  

remember the past

Ways to Connect With and Remember the Past

  1. Watch old videos: Old videos may be the next best thing to revisiting the past because you can actually see and hear your loved ones.
  2. Look at photos: Photos aren't quite as dimensional as video, but they can provide a great visual of people and places in the past. Photos also tend to trigger memories you may have otherwise forgotten.
  3. Write or journal about the past: Try the journaling prompt from our article I Miss the Sound of Your Voice: Grieving Sensory Memory
  4. Talk to people who knew your loved one or shared your past: Relationships are so unique that each person tends to have a different set of memories related to shared people and places.
  5. Look at objects or visit places that remind you of the person: Again, sometimes context can trigger memories. Things like being in a place your loved one frequented, holding an object that reminds you of them, looking at their handwriting can help you remember.

Ways to Preserve Present Day Memories

There's an added layer to this conversation for me. My mother's death created a framework for understanding loss, and now I see how we all fit within it. I spend the same moments with my kids that I believe my mother spent with me, and they feel so treasured and memorable at the moment. But I think to myself, someday, we may struggle to access memories of these moments. This home that we know every crack and corner of will seem like a place from a dream, and maybe I'll even be an abstract memory to them. 

Maybe you think I sound neurotic, and maybe I'm okay with that. If you have similar struggles, here are a few quick tips for remembering present-day experiences.

  1. Be present! The number one rule to remembering something is to pay attention to it. If you're distracted by X, Y, or Z, you will be less likely to remember your experiences later. Put down your phone, tell your brain you're taking a little time off from worry, and try and live in your experience. I know, easier said than done, but it's worth a try.
  2. Keep a journal: We know keeping up with a journaling practice is hard, but journaling has many positive benefits! One is that it's a record of your life that you can look back on. Throw away your preconceived notions about what it means to be a journaler. You can draw, doodle, write one sentence a day, bullet journal, keep a gratitude journal - whatever works for you. If you're interested in journaling as a tool for coping with grief, check out our self-paced grief journaling online course.
  3. Take photos and videos: Preserve memories as often as you can. Though, be careful not to get so caught up in preserving the moment that you sacrifice being present in it.

Do you have a tip for remembering the past or preserving the present? Share it in the comments below.

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.

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for over a decade, we finally wrote a tangible,
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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:

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37 Comments on "Struggling to Remember the Past"

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  1. Anna  March 20, 2024 at 10:48 am Reply

    My uncle Brian died in a horrible motorcycle accident when I was four. Sometimes I remember small things, like when he would let me sit on his lap at his house. Or the color of the walls in the hospital. But today, after hearing a song that my dad says hurts him because it makes him think about his brother, I couldn’t stop crying. I don’t remember my uncle though. And oh my god that is painful. I was his favorite, I’m still called Brian Jr. because of the little things I do that he also did.
    I just wish I could talk to him at my age now, just to see if we really are similar.

  2. fb  July 20, 2022 at 1:08 am Reply

    i am stuck in a loop of the last year.. her sudden sickness, her decline and refusal to receive medical care. when i could no longer pick her up off the floor or a couch i did the unthinkable and had an ambulance take her to a hospital. what started as a mundane hiatal hernia symptom, turned into heart disease .. a severe intestinal blockage.. and in 3 weeks of the ‘care’ of her ‘nurses’ , a stage four bedsore.

    i replay every day of last year. i am reliving it over and over. how every doctor told me just let her die already. she’ll keep getting infections from the sore and one day they will kill her. let her go. eventually she went septic and i had to walk her to her death. she just shut off, like a switch inside her was flipped and everything stopped. i am there now in my mind.

    i struggle to remember her from the ‘before time’. we had 24 years of marriage.. not perfectly but she and i were soul mates. all gone but for tiny fragments. all smothered by last year. i connect with her in spirit, but i can no longer see her in my mind. it’s like time is erasing her from me and i am half of who i once was.

    the tears are less now, they never help anyway. i want to join her but she has told me in spirit i cannot yet. it is not my time. so i press on and watch as one year totally becomes the sole defining measure of 24 years together.

    it never goes away, the pain. we simply learn how to carry it better. i cant even dream of her anymore.

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  3. Elizabeth  October 1, 2021 at 3:19 pm Reply

    It was been a bit over one year since my husband died in a car accident. I feel numb, can’t think about him for fear I will cry and feel sick. I no doubt am in denial. Maybe it’s helping me with not dealing with the pain . I’m tired daily even though I feel there’s not much reason
    Not sure where it’s headed except forgetting

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  4. Jill Robbins  August 25, 2021 at 9:06 am Reply

    My mum died when I was 25. She die during an operation. We were incredibly close, so much so when I started senior school, I suffered dreadful separation anxiety. My mum was 58 when she died. I am now 58 and it’s been almost 33 years since my beautiful mum died and I’m still grieving everyday. I’m having tears now whilst typing this remembering my mum. I miss her every day, every hour, every minute, every second and it hasn’t got easier. I have so much I want to tell her. I became my dad’s carer for 15 years, which was incredibly hard and now my dad has passed. But it’s my mum I still grieve for, after 33 years and I am now the same age. I have never married, never had children, have always been alone and still wander through each day. I have a brother and sister, I’m close to my sister but she has a very busy family life but I’ve no doubt she feels the same as me deep down. I just want her back and would love to take care of her. It has totally messed me up, I suffer very severe depression. But continue to plod through each day, not thinking about tomorrow or the next day, just the moment I’m in. I’ve never had anywhere to write this, only in my own diary. Sorry if I sound so pathetic but I’ve found life without my mum unbearable.

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  5. Alicia A Smith  June 8, 2021 at 12:39 pm Reply

    Hi my name is Alicia and I lost my mom to suicide this month June 9th 2014 she was my best friend even though I was put in foster care at the age of five and not released until 17. I lost my children shortly after she died due to lack of family support or just lack of communication from them they’re afraid of my reaction when they approach me because I’ve had a lot of trauma in my life as a kid. My parents were drug addicts I became a drug addict and lost sight of what was important when she died. I’ve never actually got a chance to grieve over her because I had to go to treatment to get my son back I have a boy and a girl, but over the years I just got used to it, her being gone that is, I never really got through it still to this day but as the years went by we’ll stay up to this last 3 years I lost everything I love I lost everything I worked hard for and it was all based on one person’s mistake because of their inability to let go of their ego, it cost me my whole life,. I ended up doing crazy things I never thought I’d do when I almost was killed by my sister that is deeper of a story not to be told because it is personal, but I wouldn’t say I did or didn’t deserve it because I have had a rough life but so has she along with my brother. I was traumatized from it and I ended up, mind you I was on a 97% THC dab, did some things that landed me in the Looney bin not so proud of that, but once that happened I really lost everything I truly loved and cared about to never get it back fully so her death basically cost me my entire life. My spirit’s been shattered but I’ve managed to somehow be strong enough to pull myself out of my mental problems over and over again fix my brain from thinking it’s got to feel certain ways about things, I’ve managed to stop myself from believing all the psychological things that I believed through my addiction like for instance everybody’s trying to kill me yeah that one not an easy one to come back from more than once twice or three times, but I have done it I’m still doing it. When we found my mom it was two days after she died I wasn’t allowed to be there my family knew I would react in a very devastating way that would probably traumatize them therefore I had to stay at home but when I did go there was blood on the couch I’ll keep it appropriate but when I saw it I had interests of visions they never went away I still have them to this day but somehow someway I manage to be this strong and keep going because I too once felt like dying afterwards but I realized I was a daughter without a mother whose kids became a motherless son and daughter as well and when you’re in the middle and have lived life on every side not just one or the other but there’s three sides there’s yours and theirs, your parents yours and your child’s, he really have a new vision of life and what things mean and what means the most to you, I’ve realized how much it devastated me to be without her I still have my father we’re actually building a relationship and I’m 33 I’ve never had a relationship with my father to be honest but I’ve craved it and now that I don’t have her it’s even more important for me to have, but I also had to realize how much I’ve devastated my son, I say that because my son and daughter were taken when they were younger there now nine and seven my daughter was only 6 months when my mother died and when she got taken she went with her father and ended up under the guardianship of his family member in which I never got her back and they barely let me see her I’ve seen her probably eight times in her life, so it’s hard for me to even talk about her because sometimes I actually, and I hate to say this, forget I have two kids because of the lack of them letting her be a part of me, I devastated my son the most because our bond was and it is so strong I can not explain enough how important it is to never lie to your kid or kids, I’ve told my son more than most people find appropriate for children to know because if you really think about it, they are fresh-minded and smarter than us they are the advanced us with the inability to speak it do it and show it until we teach them how, it’s like a Benjamin button thing technically that theory is not just about looks but about the mind. We are born highly intelligent to begin with, it is throughout the years as we age that we become less and less intelligent because our brains get older and tend to forget and tend to not remember like the things that we learned as kids, our souls just kind of recycle themselves and when we die we don’t lose the things we learned we just have to remember how to do them again. And I don’t believe that everybody has to follow that that I believe but I do believe that that’s kind of how things go in life the universe is endless there are many of them so losing somebody is probably one of the most devastating things a person can go through because it is endless pain and that’s hard to cope with. Apparently when I was young my mom said that I was her favorite which I hold closely but really wish I could have shared that with my sister mostly because I never understood how hard she had it she got to go back to my dad after foster care we were actually the first case in Oregon to be separated as siblings through DHS system, that was really hard it caused a lot of distance between me and my siblings and also a lot of hardship on our relationship with each other mind you, probably why my sister tried to kill me, but either way I’ll never try to commit suicide I don’t want to die my son needs me my daughter needs me no matter what you do in life no matter how you breathe or how you cope with things when you lose someone you have to keep going especially if you have kids of your own because once you know what it’s like to be without the one you care about or the one you hold closely just remember that that’s how the ones that you bring into this world are going to feel about you and, the things I’ve learned throughout this journey are beyond amazing and hard to believe it’s like, a whole new world was opened up before me I can never see things the same way that I used to, I don’t understand words being spoken unless they are direct and the truth I no longer tolerate lies nor do I even understand or hear them it’s like babble b******* to me. I’m straight up straightforward blunt direct honest to the point don’t care if it offends or hurts your feelings because I’d rather offend you and hurt your feelings with the truth than to hurt you at all with a lie. And I don’t know what all my mother went through and I don’t know why she wanted to die so badly but I know that living without her has been one of the toughest things I’ve ever went through but I’m pretty sure my children feel the same grieving never has an appropriate timing there is never an inappropriate time either but don’t forget to do it at some point because you have to and just try not to do it alone. At this point it’s been 3 years since I’ve been able to see my son not counting that brief 2 minutes that I saw him held him and heard him say Mom I love you but I better get back inside. I don’t think his dad wanted me to talk to him with all the things I’ve done to cause the situation to be the way it is I don’t blame him I don’t like him right now but I don’t blame him, I do definitely appreciate him not that he’ll see this and if he does, thank you to my son’s dad for hearing me years ago when I said something would happen that would cause me to need him to be there for our son you have no idea how much it means to me that you’re there because without you he would have been in foster care too and that is something I can never handle because I know what it’s like in that system and it’s not okay the things they do the people that choose that would have sent me into a way worse headspace than I ever went through just losing him to the addiction. I’ve managed to fight my way through everything on my own without medication without treatment and damn near without people and it’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do but the best thing I’ve done they say you’re never really over being an addict until you’re actually ready to be done, but then there’s also the people that say you can still be a functioning addict, in my case I don’t really care what it is I can be with it or without it but I definitely can’t be without the ones I love they’re still here she’s not but they are and I know that she would want me to be happy she asked me if I was one time I lied, I wish I would have told her the truth, not that it would have saved her but it would have been an honest word for her to go with when she died, but we did spend a very wonderful last day together full of love and happiness and watching the sunset out in the country with a few friends and family and my kids so I can’t say that I never got to say goodbye but these kind of situations are never easy no matter what. I miss her so much and she’s the only one that ever understood me or heard me and sometimes honestly the only one I ever felt actually loved me for me. I’m still trying to get back to my kids but with everything I’m trying to do take care of my grandpa please my dad with my choices and my ability to try to listen and change for the better, fixing my own mental by myself picking myself up off the ground over and over and over again all while trying to give the same thing to somebody else and by that I mean strength courage wisdom belief self love self care and hope that one day all the pain in their life will be a mere memory of something that they never have to go through again because they had somebody there that love them that much and wanted to see them succeed and be with their kids as well her dying has been the best lesson of life could ever teach someone and I wish she was here to give a hug too and think I usually don’t speak about this thing online like this but maybe my story will help somebody maybe it’ll inspire people. Sorry about my correct grammar and incorrect grammar here and there I actually aced Reading writing language arts LOL, but stories like this kind of make me forget about when I’m supposed to put a period or a, or apostrophe or whatever but anyway I guess that’s enough for me hopefully it all made sense I get really deep sometimes and trail off into everything because she’s not here to tell it to anymore. She was the one I told my entire life too whether it be good bad inappropriate or sad too much for her too much for me or just flat out unnecessary or nonsense no matter what it was she listened just for the mere fact that I needed it that’s what I miss in life nothing will ever replace her but I’m sure my kids feel the same way so hopefully sometime soon things will change for me finances will actually come through instead of falling out or short all the time it seems to me like everybody got their money for unemployment or taxes back but yet mine are still being processed and my taxes still have not shown me a date of when they’ll return in right now I’m stuck on an island with no car people are getting killed left and right out here mainly women and I don’t mean in a good way, it’s scary my car was stolen 6 months ago I’ve been isolated ever since I’m going crazy not literally but stir crazy hoping I can have a car soon so that I can get a job and get the f off this island because it’s holding me back severely from getting the things I love back. Money’s always been a problem for me I never did like it so I never really pursued it the way I should have because I never thought it was important enough like people are, call me crazy but how am I supposed to enjoy anything I buy when I can’t share it with someone I love. Well like I said things will turn around eventually I’m sure as long as I stay positive I’ve always been a positive person so that’s one good thing I still have in me and I guess this is my way of sharing it with you guys, no matter what you lose in life just keep your hope and remember the love that you had for those people that are no longer here because it never actually dies neither do they they just regenerate in another universe living the same life and same experience and have experienced everything to its fullest already death does not exist but experience does take that with you.
    It’s been real thank you for letting me share
    I don’t mind if people reach out that’s what I’m here for mother nature has asked me to help anyone I can because we are all apart of each other in one way or another if you don’t believe me look at your thumbprint and look at a tree print we are nature my mother is still alive so are all the ones you lost just depends on how you look at it and what you truly believe.
    Just another ordinary part of nature, Alicia XOXO

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  6. LJ  May 13, 2021 at 5:37 pm Reply

    I lost my biological father, he committed suicide when I was 1. My father who adopted me died when I was 12, heart attack. My brother had an aneurysm and died when I was 18. I now suffer from bpd and I don’t remember 98% of my past. Are these memories gone or can I recover them. My memories of my whole life not just of these people.

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  7. Allison  May 6, 2021 at 3:38 am Reply

    I lost my mom when I was 10 years old to cancer, it’s been 9 years since then and it’s still hard to think about. I don’t have much memory of her because I was so young, and probably because I blocked some of it out. I have some photos, but my father isn’t much of a sentimental person, so when we had to leave something behind while moving house, photos were what we left. I tried to smuggle as many as I could into my suitcase, but I’ll never have the rest back. Luckily my mom had many good friends, and my maternal grandmother is very close, so I’ve been told a lot of things about her, but I still can’t help but grieve the fact that I hardly knew or remember her. She was sick, in the majority of the time I could remember, I always wish I could think of happy things we did together, but there’s very few.

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    • Kelly Giannetti  May 20, 2021 at 9:06 pm Reply

      I have been caught up in a vicious grief cycle that I don’t know how to resolve or how to deal with it. In 2017 I was in an accident while a passenger on a bus and pretty much suffered whiplash of my back. I was also let go of the job I spent 4-5+ hours riding the bus to and from. February 2018 was diagnosed with breast cancer, had two surgeries, radiation, chemo. My partner of 13 yrs was taking care of me since I wasn’t working. First time in my life I haven’t worked. I have always been self sufficient. In September 2018, my partner left for work and suddenly n unexpectedly dropped dead from a massive heart attack. My lease was up on our apt the next month. So, I pretty much was on my own to pack, etc. All friends and his family (whom I got along with all) deserted me. His mother adamantly came n picked up all of his belongings, leaving me nothing. With no where to go, I became homeless as I was going thru cancer treatment and trying to grieve. I did stay with my son’s father for a couple months, then another person, now a 3rd person who I really didn’t ‘know’ and we can’t be more on opposite ends of the spectrum… I am from Pittsburgh PA but have lived in Las Vegas for 30+ yrs. A year after my partner passed, in October 2019, I found out my father passed away a week n a half prior. My siblings, who I always got along with, never called n told me. I have subscribed to email notifications from the main funeral home back home for years. I ended up opening one of their emails, scrolled down and saw my father’s name, etc causing me to cry out at 230am. I have called my parents every night at a certain time for forever. In trying to then get in touch with my mother, all of a sudden I couldn’t?? She never answered her phone again. My brother and sister never returned my calls. In trying to get in touch with friends and family back home, everyone seemingly blocked me?? It seems my sister is back there spreading lies, so no one will speak to me. Within four months of my Dad passing, my Mother also passed Feb 2020. Ten days before my father passed is the last time I spoke to my mother. She called me about a year before my Dad passed to tell me she was making out her Will and what she was leaving me…but, I never got anything. I believe my sister told her if she didn’t take me out of her Will, she wouldn’t take her to get it notarized, etc. My mother told me about certain times where she felt she had to go along with my younger sister to avoid her drama. I don’t know why …I offered to come back and take care of my parents, my Dad wanted me to come back but my Mom said it wasn’t necessary. Do, in not being able to talk to my mother’s best friends, etc, I can never fill in the missing pieces. I can barely walk now and am in need of back surgery. I can’t walk to the store…or anywhere. I have no income and this person who offered me to stay in a spare room in the back of his house expects me to take care of his more than a dozen dogs while he’s at work?? Which I can barely do… It’s one loss after another…my health, my partner, my parents, my self sufficiency….my life. I don’t tt anyone anymore. I sometimes wonder if these previous years even were real? Smh….

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  8. Jayne Westmoreland  May 2, 2021 at 7:55 pm Reply

    My husband passed away five and one half years ago. I now facilitate a grief class. your comments have help me as I help users get through their grief.

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  9. Joan K Fontenot  April 27, 2021 at 3:54 am Reply

    I just lost my only child. Sophie, 17 years old. She was reluctant to reconnect her friendship with Maria, the driver of accident. Maria, was abusive to her and cruel, but she was familiar to my child. So maria begged for a week to reunite with sophie. Sophie agreed to go to town with maria, she was unaware that maria had just taken drugs. Maria wrecked and flipped the vehicle . Maria is alive my child is dead. I am struggling with the regret that I had no idea of the drug use. Now she may not be charged, it is depending on her toxicology. My child is dead and maria acts like it’s no big deal. And to top it off I found out through journals how cruel her father was to her. He had even made her overdose and lie that he was one who actually gave her pills. I’m just mad I didn’t know all this. I want my daughters abusers to serve justice. What can I do. I lost my child. My friend my life

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  10. Dawn Freeman  April 12, 2021 at 9:21 am Reply

    My husband died in December of 2019. I’ve smelled his cologne more times than I can count, I’ve listened to his voicemail, watched home videos, read letters from our early days together, looked at photos of us at various stages in our marriage of 31 years, and done countless art revolving around my feelings about him. These have kept me connected to him and have reinforced memories that I want to cherish allowing the more painful memories of our marriage to take a back seat. Keeping playlists of songs that remind me of him are also helpful, as one song states; “I keep pushing these blues, because I don’t want to lose what I loved about you”.

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    • Michelle breen  April 23, 2021 at 6:16 am Reply

      I just lost my husband on april3. It was also our youngest sons18th birthday😟miss him beyond words….

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  11. charlotte pion  April 6, 2021 at 3:35 pm Reply

    thank you for sharing your stories. this really helps me . My husband passed 27 months ago. I’m feeling depressed and lonely even though I have friends around. It is scary to think we could forget even a single moment with the ones we lost

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  12. Debra  March 25, 2021 at 3:49 pm Reply

    I just saw this post and my heart sunk a little further down if that’s even possible. My 41 year old loving and very loved son lost his lifelong battle with anxiety and depression in March, 2020……one year ago this month. So shocking and unexpected and heartbreaking. Immediately my mind shut down to almost every memory I had of him. I still cannot look at pictures or videos. I so badly want the memories back but somewhere in me I guess I know they will only reinforce the gut wrenching grief that still exists. My daughter remembers so well and it is such a gift to me when she shares one with me. At that moment we can grieve together and it helps. Thanks for several suggestions that I want to try to bring his memories back to me. I feel his presence close to me and he started sending me cardinals almost every day. Before his death I’d never seen a cardinal in my yard. Now I get several a day. He is with me in spirit. But my Lord I miss that boy and grieve for his wife and 2 children unceasingly. I don’t want to remember only his tragic death. I want to remember the joy and laughter he brought into our home. He was the bright light in our family. His beautiful smile is sorely missed.

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  13. Ana Voges  March 24, 2021 at 8:35 am Reply

    My grief now encompasses 3 deaths. When I think of one the others come to the fore. My husband of 39 years died 13 years ago, my grandchild died 5 years ago and my partner of 5 years a month ago. In my grief they are all gone. Most of all I miss their voices, I cry for them all and at times I cannot stop.

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    • Yolanda  April 1, 2021 at 9:33 pm Reply

      So sorry for your loss.

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  14. Mary from West Virginia  March 22, 2021 at 11:03 am Reply

    Thank you for this very timely article – once again, you’ve given voice to a struggle I could not articulate.
    I can’t remember my last wife’s laugh; others can. I feel like I’m betraying her in a small way. On the other hand, I put spring flowers in an old rum bottle we found on a beach in Bermuda, and the wonderful time we had there thirty years ago cam back to me in vivid detail.
    I never know where grief will take me!

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  15. Levi's Mom  March 20, 2021 at 9:30 am Reply

    Suggestion for photos: Don’t leave them in your phone or on your camera. Print them and place in an album. I know. Many people store these electronically and view that way. Maybe it works for some, but the more senses one uses, the stronger the memory. My Asian SIL told me that in Taiwan children are encouraged not only to “follow along with their finger” but also to mouth the words silently as they read to reinforce the visual memory. Spend time, make time if you must, and look at those photos with others, especially children. Talk about the memories associated with them: what did the pizza taste like? do you remember the thundering sound of the waterfall, the rush of the waves? the colors of the sunset/sunrise? I’ve recently tackled the long-ignored task of organizing 20+ years of photos of my daughter who died in late 2016. My only child. I am struggling to remember events, places, surrounding circumstances. Worse than that, she told me several times after she grew up that she had no childhood memories. Where were they? Stored in boxes! Suggestion if you want to be helpful: offer to take photos of parents with their kids or grands. I have very few of us together. That was a good article especially the suggestion to get out from behind the camera and live in the moment. I used to have others video events so that I could watch in real-time. I remember those events more vividly.

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    • Angelia  April 15, 2021 at 5:29 am Reply

      My only child was killed in a car accident in which she was a passenger 1 year ago. She’d just turned 29. I can’t agree more on the picture taking – getting out from behind the camera. I don’t have that many of us together because we usually took them of each other. When pictures and videos, cards, letters, messages etc are all that are left, you’ll want as many as possible. So sorry for all of our losses. ⚘

      3
  16. Barb Laureys  March 20, 2021 at 2:40 am Reply

    I’ve lost many people over the last thirty years, starting witj my grandparents and getting more difficult until I’ve lost mydad in June ‘20 and my mom, unexpectedly. this mo th of March ‘21. I already miss smells. I immediately began saving voicemails, photos, videos, ut how to you save smells., especially when there’s so much change underfoot to the house and belongings? Have I forgot another remembrance to tap into before it’s removed. I’m bereft that I am not dreaming or getting signs. I guess I’m very newto it all and taken a ack by the 1 -2 punch of losing both parents so closely. Watching theirfavorite tv shows and listening to their music helps.

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    • Barblaureys@yahoo.com  March 20, 2021 at 2:45 am Reply

      Excuse the typos please.

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  17. Laine Lawson  March 19, 2021 at 10:25 pm Reply

    I can relate to much of what you wrote with a difference, your words caused Many tears to flow but the words to write here on paper will not flow so easily. I have lost two deeply loved husbands, one to lymphoma in 1998 after a vigorously fought battle of 7 years. I lost another who suffered a major heart attack whilst lying on the floor reading a book two days before Christmas in 2016. I remember everything clearly and still read letters, watch videos and have photos everywhere in my house. I cannot handle packing up and disposing of their clothes and loved possessions. Outwardly I appear to be fine, I do not socialise any more and have no interest in doing all the things I used to enjoy. I am silently sad, I do feel blessed for all the good loving I have shared. I dont feel lonely, I am content to be at home and only venture out for medical appointments, grocery shopping and hairdressing. I do not have children. I have twice tried counselling, I did not find this helpful.

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  18. Mary Schlickman  March 19, 2021 at 7:34 pm Reply

    My husband passed away on April 16, 2020. He was in a care facility for physical therapy and they were locked down the day he was admitted on March 14. I saw him only twice before he died. With the help and support of my grief support group, I am able to slowly move forward. Mr husband always said to someone who lost a love one, remember the good times. I am trying to do that. I have been putting in writing, those memories that I don’t want to forget like how we met, and where we went on our first date. I recently shared those memories with my son. I realized there are things that friends and family don’t know about us. In May we are flying to my husband’s hometown for a celebration of life for his family and look forward to hearing their memories of him.

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  19. Mary  March 19, 2021 at 5:33 pm Reply

    My husband died four months ago. I ordered a pastbook compiled from the last several years of his Facebook posts. It is a treasure trove of the things in our lives that meant so much to him. He posted pictures from our wedding on our Anniversary. Pictures of a visit to his grandparents’ homeplace where he reminisced about his childhood summers. Highlights of fishing with our grandson, and other equally memorable times with family. Best of all were those comments he made that went with the pictures. Yes, I shed a few tears, but his happiest times are represented in this book. It keeps his love alive and those precious memories close at hand.

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  20. Kathleen Paris  March 19, 2021 at 3:25 pm Reply

    I have lost my husband and my mother. Every night I write to my husband, telling him about my day and things that would interest him when he was living. It keeps me connected to him. I have another notebook of messages that I write to my mother. I just wrote that our daughter is using her cake plates. It’s a comfort for me.

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    • Yolanda  April 1, 2021 at 9:44 pm Reply

      So sorry for your loss, I do the same I write in a journal every single day. Because when my partner was alive, he always wanted to know everything I was doing.

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  21. Christine Lister  March 19, 2021 at 11:49 am Reply

    I have visited places I used to go to with my husband. I’m 3.5 years from the day he died and I’ve had different emotional reactions to visiting these places. Early on I felt a physical pain and a yearning to grasp some connection to the past. Naturally tears were in abundance. More recently I have felt nostalgic even as I soak in the scenery before me. He does feel like a figment of my imagination and I have to remind myself that what we had was real and valuable. I continue to embody him as his influence in my life continues forward. But I have to consent to allowing the physical-material aspects of our relationship to remain in the past. That, too, is sad but also evidence of living in the present. It’s a tender journey we’re on … honoring our memories, staying in the present, grieving, joyfully embracing what life offers in the now.

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  22. Nina G  March 19, 2021 at 10:33 am Reply

    Eleanor articulated the struggle I am going through at five years and three months after my mother died. It is a lonely feeling. I know I will never
    experience the joy I had when my mother was alive. Remembering and cherishing those memories is all I have left.

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    • Nina G  March 21, 2021 at 1:05 pm Reply

      Oops, sorry for the mistake in grammar. Should have been ‘are’.

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  23. Carm Russelll  March 19, 2021 at 9:09 am Reply

    Spot on again! You put into words my experience of grieving my father (1980), my 1st child (1989), my in-laws (2006 & 2012) and mostly recently my husband (2014). And keeping those connections as time passes is a grief to be processed in and of itself.

    For example…
    I love unexpected blessings. And earlier this winter I decided to listen to a recording of my husband singing. His father wanted him to sing “Because He Lives” for his funeral. It was a song they sung many times as a duet in church…the preacher and his son! But David did not think he could make it through during the service. So he and the accompanist recorded it to be played at their service. So grateful to have this to go back to. But it is what happened when I listened until the very end of the recording that allowed me that connection again. Before the recorder shut off he captured David sighing. Not unusual since the task was a difficult one. However over the past 7 yrs his singing is a joyful memory that is fading in many respects. BUT that sigh. that oh so typical moment when one accomplishes a most difficult task. It was like was hearing him “speak” all over again. And I lived that moment for as long as it lasted. And cherish every emotion it evoked up to and including sharing it with his siblings.

    Thank you again for sharing your insightful own experience on this aspect of your own grief.

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  24. Earla Legault  March 19, 2021 at 9:02 am Reply

    It was about 10 years after my father died, that I realized I was forgetting things about him. I also realized I couldn’t talk about him or tell even a funny story to my young children, without getting chocked up. So I sat down at my typewriter, yes that says how long ago that was 😊. With my children in mind, I started typing anything I could remember about him, that I wanted them to know. I wrote about his love of children, music, cat and humour. I told the funny stories I could remember and a couple of his favourite jokes. I supplemented it with the few photographs I had and also pictures from magazines that reminded me of my father and his many interests. I wrote a few pages and on the last one, made a long list of phrases and words that summed up my dad. I also included lyrics to a song he loved. 25 years later I can look back at what I wrote about him and the memories come flooding in. I believe the act of writing about my father helped begin my healing process of grief work and coming to a better place with missing him.

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    • Nina G  March 19, 2021 at 10:42 am Reply

      What a beautiful idea.

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  25. Elizabeth  March 19, 2021 at 7:25 am Reply

    This hits home for me because I’ve struggled with memories from the minute my husband died (25 months ago) and I fear it’s only going to get worse. At first I vividly remembered the end, like many people. That has faded some and I hoped the “rest of our wonderful life” memories would fill in but they haven’t. My therapist suggested it’s my brain protecting me and healing from the trauma. This makes sense to me because when I do remember things, even good things, I still mostly cry over them. Much of my time is spent trying not to think of anything at all so I can successfully work and make it through the day. It’s a terribly sad way to live even if I’m “ok” on the surface, and it’s scary to think by the time I’m emotionally capable of enjoying our memories they may have faded forever.

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    • JoAnn  March 19, 2021 at 2:31 pm Reply

      ” At first I vividly remembered the end, like many people. That has faded some and I hoped the “rest of our wonderful life” memories would fill in but they haven’t.” I keep waiting for the good memories to come back too. I lost my husband almost 3 and 1/2 years ago and it all just keeps getting farther and farther away.
      I don’t know if it’s my brain protecting me or if I’m just in denial. I recently realized that even while sitting beside his hospice bed I didn’t believe he was going to die and now I am filled with regret for what I didn’t say or do. It’s so hard.

      3
  26. Shauna  March 19, 2021 at 6:34 am Reply

    I wake up sometimes and emotions come over me and I cry for the past. For the people, the smells, the feel of certain things. I long to go back to being a little girl again. My childhood was so wonderful, I miss that. My grandparents, aunts, uncles and being with everyone in a room at the old house. I feel such sadness even writing these words. I am very good at helping others grieve, as I work as a palliative care nurse. I even get scared to think of what’s next? Thank you for your story, it was like I wrote it myself.

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  27. Rob  March 19, 2021 at 5:15 am Reply

    My wife passed away four year’s ago next month. In many ways I miss her more than ever. The house is filled with pictures and photo cushions of her that definitely help.
    I had four voluntary jobs that helped fill my time and gave me social contact, but that all stopped suddenly a year ago with the Corona Virus.

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  28. pauline Stacey  March 19, 2021 at 5:02 am Reply

    well, my husband of 50 years died Nov 2019, just 16 months ago, and the
    grieving does not ease.
    what I wanted to comment on was remembering the past..
    I can`t get past seeing him after he had died, in the hospital bed.
    I really struggle to remember the good times, as several people have
    told me to..
    my mum died just under 50 years ago,, 48 years I guess, and I can remember
    her, I can hear her voice, in my head, not physically, and she remains, as always
    very close to me.

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