Every grandparent who is estranged from their grandchildren face this ‘living bereavement’ the mourning of a precious person that we once held in our arms, a void that is a constant knot in our stomachs.
The pain we feel is indescribable.
Those wonderful memories are etched in our hearts forever.
Many grandparents are not only facing their personal grief of estrangement but are facing other personal sorrow, life carries on and we can get hit by all sorts of problems and somehow we need to find strength to carry us through.
It is the support and strength from our friends and family that we need, a time when you do find who is really there for you.
I have also learnt from others who are facing some very rough times that we have to give ourselves time to absorb, take stock and then say, ‘ok, so this is devastating, but it won’t define me, it will enable me.’
Sitting at the window writing this, life is continuing, the sun is popping out, the birds are busy nesting, the radio is burbling on, the trees blow in the breeze, whatever is happening in our lives, life carries on.
We have a choice to join in with this gift of life or to stop the world and get off.
The world will actually not stop with or without us, so we need to hang on tight and to be thankful for every breath we take in and out.
Jane