The Value of Strength

~Kim Libertini

Before loss, I was familiar with the word strength. After loss, strength took on a new connotation with immeasurable value.    In the acute stage of loss, strength was…

getting out of bed.

showering.

getting to work.

eating.

Between years one and two, strength was …

making a meal for myself, knowing I would eat it alone.  

smiling despite suffering the worst imaginable heartache.

ignoring the looks and judgments of others.

maintaining normalcy in a world that was anything but normal.

enduring the abandonment that accompanies loss.

As time progressed, strength was…

returning the leased car that used to be his.

spending holidays alone.saying his name out loud.

reaching out to new friendships.

As I approach the four year anniversary of Adam’s passing, strength is …

moving out of a place we lived together.

buying a new home without him.

surviving loneliness.

traveling solo.

starting over.

dating.

missing a piece of my heart but still moving forward.

navigating life’s difficult moments alone.

enjoying life’s beautiful moments alone.

rebuilding.

For those of you suffering from new loss, you will find strength around every bend of the grief path. Along with that strength, you’ll discover courage, hope, sensitivity, and empathy. You are not the same as you were before loss, your strength is greater.