How to Grieve The Loss of a Friend

It was a message I needed to hear, a reminder that I needed to feel it all and then let it go. It came to me in a dream this past Friday night. I had recently found out that my long-time friend and ex-boyfriend had passed away almost a year ago, but I had just heard the news. So many people were just now hearing what happened to him. I’ve felt numb to this sort of loss and pain because it is not the first, second, or third time something very similar has happened.

I am tired of losing people to addiction and depression-related deaths. I know that may sound selfish because it isn’t about me. However, what they were going through was far beyond anything I was tied to or part of. It was a deeper issue that lay within their very core, a pain they felt they could never escape from. For a couple of them, it was an accident. Each time, I was randomly in contact with them shortly before. As if they were called to have that final conversation, or it was my gift from them of peace and closure. I have no idea, but it’s always after someone has passed is has left our lives, with no chance to speak to them ever again, that we have things we want to tell them.

If we could only remember every single day with every single interaction to be completely mindful, listen intently, and use the utmost kindness to whoever it is that we come across. You never know when the last time…