{"id":9910,"date":"2015-02-07T18:39:34","date_gmt":"2015-02-07T23:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/?p=9910"},"modified":"2015-02-07T18:39:34","modified_gmt":"2015-02-07T23:39:34","slug":"grieving-in-the-real-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2015\/02\/grieving-in-the-real-world.html","title":{"rendered":"grieving in the real world"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"the<\/a>
the author’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is what grief looks like when you have a child — an everyday Saturday in the park, giving your not-quite-two-year-old exactly what he needs: sunlight and attention. Something that’s been in short supply these past few days.<\/p>\n

Grief when you have children means you have to be, as my beloved says, the grownup in the room<\/i>. You don’t have the ‘luxury’ of taking to your bed. You can’t drown your sorrows, either.<\/p>\n

It’s been a rough week, and I haven’t been able to write about it. Suffice to say there will be no grandaughter in May. But today? I’m here w\/ my incredibly resilient son, DIL, & grandson. And we spent the afternoon eating off a wooden table at the park, in lambent February sunlight. Being sniffed by a beagle puppy, watching other little bitties toddling through the mulch that’s replaced the concrete & sand of my son’s childhood (much safer and <\/i>ecological!).<\/p>\n

We watched Trin slurp noodles, and lick his fingers from the spicy chicken. He drank some of my San Pelligrino, and then tore off for the slide. At 20+ months, he’s indomitable, believing in his own invincibility.<\/p>\n

And I cheer from the sidelines, poignantly aware of mortality, of grief, of the transience of utter happiness. Still, grateful for this very ordinary Saturday. Somehow, it seems especially precious right now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is what grief looks like when you have a child — an everyday Saturday in the park, giving your not-quite-two-year-old exactly what he needs: sunlight and attention. Something that’s been in short supply these past few days. 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