Wednesday, July 26, 2006

The Four Stages of Grief

It has been way too long since I last posted. I've had several friends indicate they miss reading, so will try to do better.

Life is busy, and isn't that a good thing? Else I might find myself playing "Why Me, God?" in the aftermath of Rollin's stroke.

I've been thinking and reading a lot lately on the four stages of grief (denial, anger, depression and acceptance). I'm trying to move past #3, and finally decided I had to do SOMETHING, so attended a stroke survivor group meeting held at Kaiser. After a brief time together, they split into two groups, surviviors, and caregivers (that's me!). They of course wanted to hear my story (I kinda felt like what you might say at an AA meeting, you know..."Hi, my name is Susan. (~_~)

It was amazing to see them all start to nod and smile as I related my story....been there, done that, all of them! It was encouraging to know that!

I came away with a new sense of what the stroke had really done to Rollin, and a few coping strategies. Hopefully it makes a difference in our relationship, and the general atmosphere around the house!