Grieving the End of Summer
The end of summer always brings a mix of emotions. It seems like vacations, the weather, ice cream, and lazy Saturdays are all a bit sweeter in the summer. Letting go of this and embracing what’s to come is often hard any year, but especially during a pandemic.
For parents and children, the first day of school brings nervousness and excitement. This year brings anxiousness, worry and modified plans.
For those who have lost a loved one recently, the change of seasons reminds one how time doesn’t stop, that even nature continues on. The end of summer may trigger additional grief, or compound the grief that you are already experiencing.
For those who’ve lost their job due to the pandemic, the passage of time brings up fears of not seeing an end in sight.
For those who anticipated that things would be different, the change of season brings disappointment, that life hasn’t returned to what you envisioned.
We all grieve the end of summer – the change in this stage of life – in one way or another. The dread that comes with this grief, the preconceived notions of a long fall and winter ahead, the inability to want to face reality – it’s all overwhelming.
Yet, you have done this before. You may not have lived through a situation quite like this but you have gone through changes in your life. Draw strength from previous challenges you have overcome.
Change is constant.
“But like it or not, change happens and, like most things in life, doesn’t really happen to us – it just happens.” – David Kessler, Life Lessons: Two Experts on Death and Dying Teach Us About the Mysteries of Life and Living
As you go through this change of season, whatever circumstances you and your family are facing, know that you have our sympathies. Remember that your grief may look and feel completely different from someone else’s, and that’s normal. Remember that you have successfully gone through changes in your past.
You are built for this.