National Grief Awareness Day

As a therapist, and as someone who has walked through the loss of my father, I have come to know grief in many forms. Grief is not only about losing someone we love. It shows up in transitions, in endings, in the moments when life shifts in ways we did not expect. Grief is present when chapters close, when dreams change, and when the shape of our days looks different than before.

I have come to think of grief as a visitor. Sometimes it announces its arrival, as with anticipatory grief, when we feel it waiting at the door. Other times, it bursts in suddenly and without warning, filling the room so completely that it is hard to find space to move or even to breathe.

I picture it as a visitor who has moved into the home of our lives. In the beginning, it takes up everything. It crowds us, overwhelms us, and leaves little room for joy or even for rest. But over the years, I have learned that the work of healing is not to force grief out. Instead, it is to sit with it, to ask what it needs. And almost always, grief simply longs to be heard, acknowledged, and comforted.

When we give it space, grief slowly begins to shift. It softens. Its sharp edges become a little rounder, and we start to notice what lies beneath it: the love at its center, the longing that connects us to memory, the reminder of how deeply we cared. With time, grief no longer takes up the whole house. It finds a place within us. It settles gently into the heart, still there, still real, but no longer as overwhelming.

Grief changes us. It teaches us tenderness. It shows us the depth of our love and our capacity to endure. It reminds us that what hurts so much is also what has mattered most.

On Grief Awareness Day, and every day, I honor the ways grief visits each of us. Though it may feel heavy and consuming, it is also deeply meaningful. Grief is not a sign of weakness, but of love, love that continues even when life has changed."

-Licensed Professional Counselor Nikoleta Giannakopoulos