Grief therapy can be a lot of things at different moments. Many people talk about the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. In fact, there’s a whole theory on the stages of grief by psychiatrist Kubler-Ross. She is famous for naming and outlining 5 grief stages.

This theory is great starting place to understanding grief, but it does not capture the multilayered experience of grief and loss

As I type, the snow is beginning to fall. The air is mostly still with a gentle breeze that moves the bare trees outside my window. I look up again, and the wind picks up and the power lines sway, and then they stop as the wind fades.

A storm is coming.

Another day. Another storm.

Today, I am watching the wind and clouds both wearily and with hope as this weather pattern moves into the front range. I feel dread and tension in my back, “What will happen next?” I feel hope in the relaxing of my eyes, “This should put out the fires.”

In the last 7 days, the Front Range of Colorado has experienced at least two tragedies that have abruptly taken away loved ones and uprooted tens of thousands. I had hoped to write a final blog post for 2021 that did not have to do with grief…

But here we are.