Many people first experience grief as a child or teen. When someone loses someone close to them at such a young age or at such an unexpected time it can become very overwhelming. Grief comes at random times, and you don’t get to choose when you feel something and grief is one of those things.
Grief isn’t being sad all the time; it’s more like glitter. You can “clean it up” but as life goes on you will always find pieces of glitter everywhere, whether it’s a cardinal flying by, someone saying a phrase that they used to or even seeing someone in public for that split second that looks exactly like them. The truth is grief isn’t ever going to fully go away, you just learn to grow with it. As life goes on and as you grow the grief you once held at that young age doesn’t leave the body, mind, or soul but it just becomes a part of you, just how that person you once had was once a part of you and forever will be but just now in a different way.
When grief first takes place young teenagers aren’t necessarily ready to deal with something this big in life. The one thing I have realized about grief is that everyone handles it in different ways, whether they just lost that person or it is 5 years later; no one grieves the same way.
For many like myself, the first time a child or teen experiences grief is through the loss of a beloved grandparent. In the moment, it may not feel like it will be alright, and it might not soon but it will eventually. Everything takes time. You might ask “what do I do now”? There’s no timeline to grief so take a break and be easy on yourself. The hardest thing about losing someone is that you will never get them back but don’t lose yourself and not be able to get YOU back. Take advantage of resources, counseling, and leaning on others.
