Grief...

Reading the articles about the woman who had lost her husband in 9/11 was really depressing. I cannot imagine going through the loss of a partner, especially in such a tragic way. Grieving is a difficult thing, and people go through it in so many ways. It is hard to know the right way to react to someone who is grieving because if this. It also depends on what stage they are in. Sometimes people need someone to distract them and do something fun, other times they just need a shoulder to cry on. Three of my grandparents have passed away, so I know what it is like to lose a loved one. There a definitely times when I was tired of being sad and just wanted distraction, but other times I needed someone there to help me get through the grieving process. I have had friends who have had grandparents pass away too and even though I have been through it before, it is still hard to know what to say or do.
Grief reminds me of the movie "The Notebook." There are several times throughout the movie when grieving occurs, over lost love, lost memories, and eventually over the loss of life. The end of the movie reminds me of the physical reaction to grief, the broken-heart syndrome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th0gZzAovn4&feature=related The couple die together, holding hands. The way the movie is made, this doesn't seem like a coincidence, it seems like their love let them die together. I am not sure if this would actually be possible in real life, but the broken-heart syndrome makes it seem like something similar could, and actually does happen. In a way it is romantic, but at the same time scary. Health problems or death of one family member would cause enough grief without the having health problems of another at the same time. This is probably far reaching, but it reminds me of the social networking talk we had and how the actions of one person affect others to three degrees. What if this happened more often with the broken-heart syndrome? Just a thought.