Text of a quote from Sara Rian that says, "Your grief is supposed to exist loudly. All of this is supposed to take up space. Their existence, their story, their memory, your love, your ache, your survival... don't try to shove it into a dresser drawer or hide it in a shoe box on the closet shelf. How could we ask it to be that small? Make room for it, as uncomfortable as it is. If anyone asks you to pack it down or put it away, let them know that they can walk around it or they can walk away. No more trying to shrink it. No more pretending you could."

#grief #bereft #widowhood

“The half-life of grief is endless”

#grief #widowhood #bereft

Julian died at the end of 2023. When 31 Dec came, everyone was celebrating the new year. But, I did not want that year to end because it was the last year he lived in.

Now each new year is one year further from his life and I hate it.

#bereft #widowhood #grief #newyear

I couldn’t find the cat. But I also don’t think the houses are crooked. So maybe I’m missing something.

Beautiful drawing.

😄

Maybe, just maybe, the old you doesn’t need changing.

Maybe, instead, it is society that needs changing… to one that accepts who you are with less judgement and more support.

#translivesmatter #protectthedolls #nonbinarylivesmatter #queerlivesmatter

I wish everyone a Gentle New Year, as I know that for many it won’t be happy (or will struggle to be).

Therefore, I hope the new year is as gentle as it can be for all of you, and that it brings you some level of happiness and comfort even amongst the grief.

#grief #bereft #widowhood #newyear

Be gentle with yourself today.

Moving into a new year for new widows means moving from 'My partner died this year' to 'My partner died last year'. For those who have been widowed longer, it can feel like their person is moving further into the past.

Another unexpected loss.

#widow #grief

Image with text that says, “Grieving people don’t need to be distracted from their pain. They need to be with those who aren’t afraid of it.”

This. So much this…

#grief #bereft #widowhood

“Your behaviour shows the highest of contempt for all that our society holds sacred; it is morally reprehensible,” the judge told the two dozen podcasters inside Erin’s courtroom.

Read more: theshovel.com.au/2025/08/26/e...

Victorian looking image of two children looking out a window where Father Christmas is. The text reads, "He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He's already cut the phone lines. There really is no escape."

He really is a bit of a perv! 😂 You better watch out!

#fatherchristmas #santaclaus #merrychristmas

Post from Whitney Hanson that reads "If your grief will not leave, gather it up and take it with you. Set an extra space for it at the table. Go for a walk and let it follow you like a shadow. Paint something and let some of it settle on the canvas. The key isn't to feel good all the time. It is to go on living alongside whatever you feel."

#grief #bereft #widowhood

Image with text that says, "It still hasn't sunk in. The reality of it all. The fact that, when someone dies, they never come back. You'll never hear their laugh again. You'll never see them smile again. You can't hug them just one more time or tell them you love them. They're just gone. Forever."

Image with text that says, "Some days, I miss them. Some days, I miss who I was before I lost them. That's the grief no one talks about; the double loss. The person you loved and the version of you that existed before they left. And they both hurt."

Image with text that says, "The hardest part isn't the funeral. It's not the anniversaries, or the birthdays, or even the holidays that come and go without them. Those days hurt - but at least you expect them to. The hardest part is the nothing moments. The ones that sneak up on you when you least expect it. Driving past their favourite coffee shop, seeing their handwriting tucked inside and old drawer, hearing a song you didn't realise would break you until it did, reaching for your phone before you remember. Grief isn't just one loss. It's a thousand tiny losses, every single day, and somehow, you have to find a way to survive. them all."

Image with text that says, "Grief is full of contradictions. We know they're gone, yet some part of us still waits. We know we won't hear their voice again, yet we listen for it in the quiet. We know they won't walk through the door, yet we glance up ever time it opens. It's a strange kind of heartbreak - one that doesn't just hurt but disorients. One that makes the impossible feel possible for just a second. Because, how can someone so love, so deeply woven into our lives, just disappear? How can the world go on like nothing has changed when, for us, everything has?"

Even after 2 years...

from the Pretty Painful Grief Book on Instagram.

Image with text that says, "Grief is strange. When I lost them, I thought the fear of losing them was over. But it wasn't. Now I'm scared in different ways. Scared I'll forget their face, their little favourites, the way they laughed at their own jokes, the advice they slipped into conversations without me even asking, the kind of love only they knew how to give. I'm scared their voice will fade, the way they said my name will disappear, scared they'll turn burry in my memory until I can't reach them anymore. Because grief doesn't just take once. It keeps taking. Piece by piece."

There is a fear you will lose them & all the ways they made you smile, made you feel good, impacted your life.

This is especially true for me when it feel sometimes like I'm the only one who talks about him, remembers him.

From @delicate.dusty_diary on Instagram.

#grief #bereft #widowhood

Not just 10 months on, but years later. It's been over 2 years now for me, and I still have trouble believing he's not here. I still wake up from time to time, expecting him to be around. Or, go to send him a meme I think he'll like and then realise he's dead.

#grief #bereft #widowhood

A true hero.

Just want to share with my American friends how the Australians respond to a shooting tragedy. Action, rather than thoughts and prayers.

Heard this quote just now, and it struck me hard, but also brought me some comfort.

*photo is of our last Christmas together (2022)

#bereft #grief #widowhood

a man in a hat is dancing in a crowd of people ALT: a man in a hat is dancing in a crowd of people

Happy 100th birthday Dick Van Dyke!

Photo of a loan tree against a blue sky

Photo of the water of Port Philip Bay and the blue sky above. Three small sail boats are on the water.

Image of the water of Port Philip Bay with a blue sky above and scrub vegetation in the foreground.

Photo of a rocky shore, waves of Port Philip Bay crashing against it, and the blue sky above.

Short trip down the peninsula to Mornington.

Photos from Schnapper Point, Pt 1

Blurry image of fir trees in front of an orange and yellow sky with text that says “When people ask me ‘how is life’ nowadays, my mind goes blank. I don’t know. All I know is I’m alive.”

Source unknown.

#grief #bereft #widowhood #Imalive

Image with text that says, "I wish people would stop: comparing my grief to someone else's timeline."

Image with text that says, "I wish people would stop: telling me 'everything happens for a reason'."

Image with text that says, "I wish people would stop: offering advice when what I need is presence."

Image with text that says, "I wish people would stop: pretending grief is neat, tidy, and something you 'get over'."

"I wish people would stop", Pt 2

From the Pretty Painful Griefbook on Instagram

#grief #bereft #widowhood #Iwishpeoplewouldstop

Image with text that says "I wish people would stop: avoiding their name like saying it will break me."

Image with text that says "I wish people would stop: expecting me to be the person I was before."

Image with text that says, "I wish people would stop: getting uncomfortable the second I tell the truth about how I'm really doing."

Image with text that says, "I wish people would stop: acting like missing them is something I should grow out of."

"I wish people would stop", Pt 1

From the Pretty Painful Griefbook on Instagram

#grief #bereft #widowhood #Iwishpeoplewouldstop

Text that says "Cauliflower tastes like someone at a dozen hardboiled eggs, waited an hour, farted into the dirt, then tended that fart dirt lovingly for 2 months until it grew into a far flower, harvested it on the hottest, ripest day of the year, boiled it for 13 hours and then tried to fool people into thinking it tastes just like mashed potatoes."

This... so much this!

#cauliflower #fartvegetable #ick

Meme of man looking at woman whilst holding his girlfriend's hand and his girlfriend looking disgusted. Text over the woman says "The fridge". Text over the man says "Me looking in the fridge for something". The text over the girlfriend says "The thing I'm looking for sitting on the benchtop"

All the time... sometimes I'm not sure where my brain is at.

Of course, it is still better than the time I couldn't find the sandwich press. And, then found it in the fridge.

It's a symptom of many things. But, it is also called "widow brain" in the widowhood community.

#widowbrain #grief

Image with the text, “The most vulnerable thing I can do is show you my pain. The most loving thing you can do is to not look away.”

Stop avoiding your family member’s/friend’s grief.

They need to experience it & they need you to support them. And, sometimes, all that means is being there for them & allowing them to grieve.

#grief #bereft #widowhood

Image with text that says, "Grief is a form of love - one that needs patience, not positivity. Toxic positivity wants to rush you into meaning-making. It tries to wrap your pain in silver linings before you've even had time to breathe, but grief doesn't need to be inspirational to be legitimate. It needs room. It needs slowness. It needs truth. The kindest thing you can do is let yourself feel what you feel without trying to turn it into something 'useful' too soon."

Sometimes, things happen in life that have no meaning.

Trying to tell yourself that "everything happens for a reason" or something else toxically positive is not helpful.

Let yourself grieve.

#grief #bereft #widowhood #noreason #griefislove

Image with text that says, "A belief about grief you'd love to erase -- If I have learned anything about grief, it's that my worth isn't measured by how 'over it' I seem. Healing isn't a performance, and grief isn't something you win by hiding it well enough to make everyone else comfortable. Just because I can smile, show up, and keep going doesn't mean the ache is gone. It just means I've learned how to carry it alongside everything else. I don't know how we go there, but the world loves to put timelines on grief - as if the sooner you're 'fine', the better. But being human doesn't work like that. Love leaves marks that don't fade, and loss reshapes us in ways that aren't meant to be invisible. My tears, my missing, my soft spots - they don't make me weak. They make me real. They're proof of a love that never ended."

I will never get over his death. I will always talk about him, remember him, keep him close, even if it makes others uncomfortable.

(Image from the Pretty Painful Grief Book on Instagram)

#bereft #grief #widowhood #prettypainfulgriefbook

Image of a text that says "People talk about 'getting over it' like grief is some mountain you climb and leave behind. But the trust is: you don't get over love. And in that lies the reason you can't get over grief either. Because if you could forget that easily, if you could move on like nothing ever happened, maybe it was never really love at all. No, real love doesn't vanish when someone's gone. It lingers in the way you speak their name, in the memories that leak up on you, in the ache that lives quietly inside your chest. That ache isn't weakness. It isn't failure. It's proof. Proof that what you shared was real. Proof that they mattered. Proof that love doesn't end, even when life does."

You can't get over grief. You carry it with you because you carry the love you have/had for them with you, too.

(Image from rom the Pretty Painful Grief Book on Instagram)

#bereft #widowhood #grief #griefislove #loveisgrief

These are the same people who will post memorials/memories of their dead parents, siblings, and even pets year in and year out and get a flood of sympathy.

But Buddha forbid I post about my dead soulmate more than a few months after his death.

Do I sound bitter, yeah. I am.

Ok. End rant.