Through the Words of Great Minds

Grief, an unavoidable part of life, has been explored in countless ways by many great minds. These quotes have captured some of the the essence of loss and the journey of healing. Loss is inevitable and ever-changing, but memories can provide solace, and the strength of the human spirit can carry us through dark times. Holding on to not much more than the phone calls of a mother who had just lost her son and the phone calls of a sister who just lost her brother, I found a desire to grasp onto the words and wisdom I could find within the archives of the internet that could provide me enough comfort to fight another day just so that I could live to offer something of value to these two women. I found very little, but it gave me more time to find that the only thing that helped was simply the knowing that their presence was what was keeping me alive - just knowing they are with me was enough. Knowing that it doesn't matter what I could offer or that having nothing to offer at all didn't matter to them - just me being there was enough. What they provided to me what I was trying to give to them all along... They gave me comfort, love, compassion, a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, a place to yell a scream, they gave me room to heal through my loss though my loss was theirs to mourn. Now, as to not spiral too far away, let me just say the internet did offer something else. Though some of these make me cringe perhaps others can find them comforting. I did find a sliver of something in everything I read. Don't simply repeat a quote to someone, instead find inspiration here to speak genuinely to someone you care about during their time of need. Time and support can help heal wounds, and we really do appreciate those who bring us joy - even if it doesn't appear that way. This individually unique but universal experience that has comingled itself within the existence of human life, has inspired profound reflections from some of our history's most captivating minds. So, through the words of great minds, here are a few quotes that led me to realizing where my healing was coming from and hold potential to illuminate the depths of loss and the paths towards healing: On the inevitability of loss "There is no grief like the grief that comes without warning." - Lord Byron. "Loss is inevitable. It is the nature of life that things will come and go. Loss is a part of living." - Ram Dass. On the nature of grief: "Grief is like a moving river; it is always changing." - John Mark Green. "The heart never forgets what the hand has touched." - Jean Paul. On finding solace in memories "When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure." - Dr. Seuss. "What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us." - Helen Keller. On the resilience of the human spirit "The strongest and kindest words of compassion we may ever hear are the whispers of our own souls to ourselves in the darkness of loss." - Anne Lamott. "Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are charming benefactors. They enrich our lives, therefore they deserve our gratitude." - Voltaire. On the healing power of time and support "Time heals all wounds." - Euripides. but Euripides was stupid and probably never experienced even having lost the quill or chisel he used to write such a ridiculous statement. So... I'm not even going to add anything else but instead; I will separate time and support into two more sections so that this one can stand out as the single more cringing thing to say to anybody except a child who fell and got a booboo. On the healing power of time "Time softens everything, even grief." - Seneca (This one's first because Seneca probably didn't like being told that time heals all wounds either) "Man suffers more in imagination than in reality." - Charles Darwin "Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise again." - Victor Hugo On the healing power of support "What is grief? I do not know what grief is, but I do know that tears can turn to gold." - Maya Angelou "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." - Helen Keller "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." - Eleanor Roosevelt On the healing power of time and support which I was not able to have with or by my loved ones, but found in these quotes "We cannot solve all our problems, but we can face them all; not by pretending they're not there, but by taking an equal stand alongside our grief, not against it." - Eric Hoffer. "Do not seek to be a king, seek to be worthy of kingship. Do not seek to be rich, seek to be deserving of riches. Do not seek to be healthy, seek to be worthy of health. Then in time all these things will be given, as graces, not as debts." - Marcus Aurelius "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart." - H. Jackson Brown Jr. "Caring for each other and ourselves goes beyond sentimentality. It’s part of political work. It’s a revolutionary act." - Audre Lorde Like a lone ember in a desolate field, the raw words of my own experience would either slowly burn out or set fire to anything that make contact because, for me, the shadow of grief fell without a single visitor, leaving a silence so profound it felt like an absence of a heart beating in a vast echoing chamber of sorrow and despair. In that barren landscape, I questioned not only the meaning of the connections that failed me and failed to bridge the chasm of loss. But it was in the whispers of wisdom, the echoes of shared experience, that I found a glimmer of hope that I provide something to help my family through their pain and not to further contribute to their loss. And so, I offer this not just as an intellectual exercise, but as a plea, a call to action forged in the crucible of my own isolation. I write this not for your pity, not with platitudes, but as a testament to David's love for in his love - his family - I found that even in the deepest darkness, connection casts a light. Don't let someone get lost in the void of their loss. Please, be the bridge, the lifeline, the vessel of compassion that no one should have to navigate this alone. Be the flame that carries this light, be the hand that reaches out. Not everyone will search for whispers of wisdom, or will catch the sunrise painting the horizon with hope. Share your stories, offer your presence, piece together a world where grief finds solace not in empty spaces, but in the beating hearts of connection. Don't leave it to the broken hearted to mend the hearts of others in their loss.