A few years ago my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped when he told us. I felt like I was hit by a freight train. The tears wouldn’t stop, and even with all of my Grief Recovery experience I still tried to hold them in. My heart was broken.
The Nature of Grief
The uncertainty about what was going to happen was soul-crushing. While many people acted like cheerleaders for his life, I was certain he would die and was terrified about how our family would function without him. He is our rock and my hero. I wanted to be realistic, so I prepared for the worst.
Thankfully The Grief Recovery Method taught me that my feelings were normal and natural. And although I was devastated every single time I thought about him (which was often), I had the present moment tools to enjoy our time together. Grief Recovery also gave me the courage to tell my dad how much I love and respect him and how scared I was. He got to tell me how he feels about me too. If that’s not a gift, I don’t know what it is.
The year he was sick was bittersweet; thinking each time we saw each other would be the last and wanting to appreciate the time we still had. Years past I might have avoided seeing him altogether to avoid the painful feelings that came with it. Because of what I was taught through the Grief Recovery Method, I knew that I didn’t want to regret missing as many final experiences as I could.
I’m thrilled to say that my dad did survive and it was truly a miracle, so we will have many more moments to share together!
If there’s anything I could convey to you, it’s that we can get complete with living people. We don’t have to wait until someone is dead or out of our lives. I was able to do the Grief Recovery Method work on my relationship with my dad and share with him things that were appropriate to share with him - which certainly wasn’t everything. :)
That is a gift.
Being able to apply The Grief Recovery Method to current relationships has been an incredible gift that I hope you get to experience for yourself.