Empathy

Yesterday, Emily and her family buried her grandfather. As she wrote last week, he was a wonderful man and extraordinarily loving grandfather. The grandfather that Emily and I share died well before we were born. We both only had one grandpa, and we both had a really good one.

The service yesterday was in the same room where my Grandpa’s viewing was a little over two years ago, and it brought back lots of memories. Grief fades with time but it can come back to visit at times as fresh as the moment it was new. Emily and Anna grieved yesterday and I grieved for them.

Two years ago at my grandfather’s funeral, Emily sat in the crowd and when it was done, her tear-stained face told me she felt for me. Before we parted, she held me tight.

Yesterday it was just the same. We stood in each other’s places. She in the front this time, me in the back. Before we parted, I held her tight.

There will be a time, I know, when our grief will be the same. I can hardly entertain the thought.

But it is comforting to know we won’t be alone.

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