Often in grief we become so anxious just to get to the other side of it, to feel better, to feel like we used to before our loss. But I’ve realized since becoming a widow at the age of 35 that is not how grief works. In my experience, the pain gets worse before it can get better. I’ve had to breakdown, unravel, surrender fully to my loss and my new reality and then build back up from the ashes. I’ve had to give myself so much patience and grace to work through and process so many intense emotion