Blogging A-Z: B Is for Bereavement

            Merriam-Webster defines “bereave” as “to deprive of something,” as “bereavement” as “the state of being bereaved or deprived.” These are rather bloodless definitions for what is often meant by “bereavement,” which is the loss of a loved person to death.

            I’ve been going to a bereavement group for two years, since the death of my husband. We

were together for 52 years, pretty much all of our adult lives. Jack was six weeks older than me, but since June 4, 2016, I will always be older than he will ever be. I am still learning how to be an adult on my own.

            The bereavement group consists of a group of women and men who have all recently lost a spouse, partner, or, in my group, a parent. Even though our circumstances vary, sometimes dramatically, we all share this one experience of loss. It’s an experience you don’t really understand unless or until you find yourself in it.

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April’s writing challenge is to blog every day, with each post beginning with a letter of the alphabet from beginning to end. We skip Sundays, except for April 1, so as to have 26 days in the month.

SOLSC Day 21: Busy

I don’t know what to write my Slice about today, since there’s been so much. So I’ll just make a list.

1. I went to my first bereavement group this morning. There were four of us bereaved and two social workers, two who’ve lost husbands, one who’s lost a wife, and one who’s lost her mother. I’m not the worst-off person emotionally — I almost feel lucky. Is that okay?
2. I walked down Broadway from 32nd Street to 18th Street and to Taste of Persia, delicious Persian stews from a corner of a pizza parlor. Taste of Persia started as a food truck, but was so popular that it moved into this permanent space. I had a delicious stew of okra and other vegetables.
3. Back home, I made several phone calls involving financial matters. I also got a phone call from my doctor after my annual checkup; she said my bad cholesterol was bad enough that I should start taking statins, and I also have to add a lot more vitamin D to my supplements.
4. In the evening I went to a “Conversationson Race and Other Diversities with Johnnetta Betsch Cole” at the CUNY Graduate Center. The participants included academics, the host of a public radio show Micropolis, and a former NFL player-turned-activist against sexism and homophobia. They managed to discuss intersectionality in plain English.
5. I walked over to Broadway and up to 42nd Street from 34th Street, and got in my 10,000 steps for the day.