In the Twilight Zone

Grief is a natural response to losing someone or something that’s important to you. You may feel a variety of emotions, like sadness or loneliness, or find yourself in a place you can’t quite describe and I often refer to this place as the “Twilight Zone.”

You might feel numb, live in a fog, and not want to get out of bed. The world might seem too overwhelming for you to face. You may not want to be around others, not feel like talking, and experience episodes of crying.

Know you are not alone if you too feel this way after experiencing a devastating loss. Everyone must process their grief in their own way and on their own time and some may linger in the “Twilight Zone” longer than others and that is OK. As a friend and grief counselor once said, it is like breaking your leg and expecting to run a marathon. You are not your normal self so stop pressuring yourself to “be normal”.

Our grief response

Elizabeth Babcock, one of the speakers who has provided families with information and comfort during Pet Memorial Sunday and in our AfterCare Series, prepared an article about grief from her notes from those presentations. Our society does a terrible job communicating about and preparing us for grief and it is her mission to help families validate their feelings of loss and bewilderment that often accompany the loss of a pet.

Because our pets are such an integral part of our daily life, the grief experienced upon the loss of your pet may even be more intense than grief occurring during the loss of a human family member. I invite you to read her article at Grief: What All Mourners Need to Know.