Loss affects us differently. Seeing Unfinished Song this weekend, was a tough movie for me to watch. Although touted as uplifting, I found it depressingly sad, and sniveled through a significant portion without a tissue. Not that it didn’t have touching, perhaps even funny, moments – but the death of a wife (and mother) was particularly sad as a reminder of the loss of my own mother, and the intense isolation of the husband (father), was a frightening reminder of the desolation that can befall a human being. The man does find an unlikely friend, a new (or rediscovered) pastime, and eventually a relationship with the son and grandchild he judged and ignored. 

I suppose the real question is; how does one deal with loss? Can we grieve and move ahead to this new section of our life even if it wasn’t what we chose or foresaw for our future? How long do our feelings remain raw? When does the past become the past and not the present? When do we let it go? Grief does not come in one size fits all, it’s an experience as unique and individual as we ourselves. And indeed, that is the point – be true to you, no one else knows you quite as well.