The Observer’s Guide To Grief : Day One

“You will be strong
And you will be not-strong
You’ll be up and you’ll be down
You’ll forget and you’ll remember.
You will question your reality
And be angry with the answer.
Bargaining is pointless.
People hundreds of miles away
Will promise to do all they can.
That statement is all they can do.
Surprisingly, it helps.
So does tea.
Every cliché you ever heard
Is a hand-hold for you to hold onto
As you scale this vertical cliff.
And when you fall
- And fall you will -
There will be nobody to catch you
Except everyone.”
Excerpts from “The Observer’s Guide to Grief” by Matt Saunders
I began to write this a couple of days after my mother died earlier this year. I wanted to capture the sense of disconnection I was feeling from the event, so I originally phrased it as “An excerpt from my forthcoming book, “The Observer’s Guide to Grief”, though I spent so long explaining that the book didn’t exist, that I gave up the conceit. I intend to add to this series of “excerpts” over time, so who knows — maybe one day the book will exist after all.
- Day One (this page)
- Eulogy Writing (and the eulogy I wrote)
- The Funeral
- The Calendar
- Tomorrow
