Loss ~
How to talk about it.

How to file it.

How to live with it.

Thank You Ellen Urbani for using words that make sense to me:

"Storm, our youngest Great Dane -- our beloved family member, playmate, friend -- died yesterday from complications from an illness she'd been battling since summertime. In the face of great losses others are suffering presently, our grief seems a small and indulgent thing, and yet ... for us, her death brings tremendous sadness. Holding my crying children, I told them that this grief is the price we pay for the great joy Storm brought to us, and that those two feelings are inextricably linked: one can never have joy without sadness, love without loss. I explained to them that some people decide, in their grief, never to love again so as never again to experience such loss, but that such a choice typically portends even greater sorrow. "I wouldn't trade even a single day with Storm, to eliminate this sadness," I said. "Instead, I willingly abide my sorrow, for the gift of having had a chance to share my life with her. "Don't hide from love," I reminded them. "Love is always worth it. Choose love over and over and over again. Choose love, every time."'