Grief Journey in a Jar - annemoss.com

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Grief Journey in a Jar

®Copyright Emotionally Naked LLC. This work/download is copyright protected. Please do not sell,

distribute, or copy for anything other than personal use. Personal use is defined as printing out the

pages, cutting them apart, folding the squares and placing them in a container (jar or gift bag) and

offering as a gift as part of the Grief Journey in a Jar project to provide connection for a grieving person

after loss of a child.

You may print and “make” as many grief jars/bags for friends from your downloaded copy as you wish.

Please do not send this pdf to friends/relatives. Instead, ask others to find it on EmotionallyNaked.com.

Key words ‘Grief Journey in a Jar’. Thank you.

In this document:

• Description

• Recommended jar sizes

• Printable and editable jar labels

• Instructions

Description:

The idea is that the person or family takes one slip of folded paper out of the jar

per day. There are 96 grief quotes and tips related to grief from losing a child.

Instead of the regular grief card you’d find at the drug store, you could go the

extra step and offer someone something more personal and thoughtful. It can be

for a whole family or just one person. If four people were taking one out per day,

then it would amount to 24 days for example.

The Jar:

I bought this jar at my local organic grocery. Jar opening needs to be at least 3.5”

(9cm) so that a hand can get inside and pull out a folded paper. Leftover jars, a

oatmeal container, gift bag, jar, box or leftover jar can work. When I mail these, I

wrap the jar well so it arrives unbroken.

Jar opening needs to be at least 3.5” (9cm) wide. Consider whether it’s a male or

female who will be putting their hand in the jar. Leftover jars are fine but you’ll

need about a liter jar (33-42 ounces or about 975 mL). This is the bottom of one

of the jars I just mailed.

Labels:

You’ll edit the label of your choice, print, cut it out and put it on the jar by gluing

around the edges. It can be taped or otherwise fixed on there. Labels below are editable. Form fields are visible to you but they will not print that way.

Grief Journey in a Jar for



Instructions: Print out the sheets that came with this kit. Cut them apart. And fold

each one of the pieces of paper and put them in the container. I cut them in three

strips, then stack those three strips and cut the individual ones.

Embellish however you want. Thank you for wanting to show love to a parent,

grandparent or guardian who is hurting over the loss of a child.

“Even in darkness,

sometimes sunshine shines through the

blinds.” --Charles Aubrey Rogers

EmotionallyNaked.com

Grief tangles your brain.

Consider it part of your charm.


You will survive. Now tell yourself that over and

over.


Allow those who say the wrong thing the grace and credit for having

tried.


Your relationship with

your beloved dead changes and grows over

time.


Think of one thing you are grateful for right now.


It’s OK to talk to your loved one out loud.

Thanks to ear buds, you don’t look crazy.


At first, grief is ugly and difficult. Over time it becomes the link you

have to the loved one you lost.


You will love again, laugh again, live again.


“No one ever told me that grief felt so much like

fear.” ---C.S. Lewis


"When someone you

love becomes a memory...that memory becomes a treasure."

— Unknown


“You never know how strong you are until

strong is the only choice you have.” --Bob Marley


Your laugh has just taken a sabbatical. Its absence

is not permanent.


“Grit your teeth. And let it hurt. Don’t deny it and don’t be overwhelmed by

it It will not last forever.”

--Harry Kushner


Grief Anxiety

Worrying that no one will want to be with you if

you are feeling sad. This one is rooted in a fear of

rejection


Good Grief

That thing Charlie Brown always said that was

once funny and now you see it

as ironic.


Grief Journey

That really long, hard journey you wish you’d not been introduced to but will ironically help

you to heal emotionally


"Be the things, you loved most about the

people who are gone." — Unknown


“Grief is like the ocean; it comes in waves, ebbing and flowing. Sometimes

the water is calm & sometimes it is

overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim.”

--Vicki Harrison


Grief Relapse

When you are humming along making progress and all of a sudden you

go two steps backwards.


Grief Hangover

That beat up and wrung-out feeling that hits you

after a particularly painful day.


Today, you will find some light in the darkness of

loss


Respect

where other loved ones are in this grief journey

because you are rarely on the same page at the

same time. EmotionallyNaked.com

Grief Ambush

It’s when the loss takes you by surprise and to your knees and doesn’t

ask for forgiveness.


"You will survive and you will find purpose in the

chaos. Moving on doesn't mean letting go."

— Mary VanHaute


"Grief is the price we pay for love."

— Queen Elizabeth II


Learning to live without

the person we love is the hardest part of the

grief journey.


The world had some nerve moving on without

my child in it. EmotionallyNaked.com

"How lucky I am to have something that makes

saying goodbye so hard." — Winnie the Pooh


The greatest joy is often found at the end of pain

and struggle.


“Through all the terror, I can catch beauty in a

glimpse of hope.” — Charles Aubrey Rogers


Time takes on a different meaning after your child has died. It can feel like forever and no-time at

the same time.


There is no magic elixir to fix the pain of grief. If you can't feel, you can't heal.


To find hope and joy again, it’s important to

let go of blame & bitterness.


As you understand the

rhythm of your grief, you figure out how to

manage it even if you can’t control it.


Just because you buried your child doesn’t mean you have to bury their memory. It’s OK to talk

about your child.


It’s OK to feel anger after a child’s death. Just don’t

stay there forever.


Little by little, we let

go of loss, but never of love


Humans were not meant

to grieve alone.


Death of a child is not something you “get

over.” It’s a grief journey that evolves over time.


“Grief only exists

where love lived first” —Franchesca Cox


It's not a healthy grief coping strategy if long term use of it causes

problems.


“The only way to take sorrow out of death is to

take love out of life.” --Russel M. Nelson


May your heart be full

of love today EmotionallyNaked.com

“Sometimes it’s OK if the only thing you did today

was breathe.” --Yumi Sakuawa


Avoiding certain people

to protect your emotional health is not a

weakness, it’s wisdom.


“Real empathy is

sometimes not insisting it will be OK. But

acknowledging that it is not.”

—Cheryl Sandberg


“We’re so distracted by

how things end, we often forget how beautiful the

beginning was.” --Lamiya Waheed


Losing a child re-writes your address book.


Tragedy brings

struggles and sadness. But

it also presents opportunity for finding

joy where you didn’t see it before.


I will stop talking about my deceased child when everyone stops talking about their living ones


Wisdom and insight are special gifts for those of us who’ve experienced

unimaginable loss


Sometimes our grief is so ugly and naked, we feel guilty for exposing

anyone to it.


Grief is like a girdle. If

you try too hard to suppress it, it pops out in

ugly and unattractive ways.


Have you ever wanted to

yell, “Pardon me for having interrupted your

beautiful life with my tragedy?”


Learning to live without the person who was my purpose is the hardest

part of my grief journey


We want a rewind

button. Where is the f—ing rewind button?


For those life events, death anniversaries,

birthdays, and holidays, plan something ahead of

time.


If only soothing our hurt was this simple.


Why do we think we have

to go it alone? Gut out our losses with no

support? Find your support system.


When we don’t give

loved ones a chance to help, we are cheating

them out of the opportunity to be

there for us.


Grief didn’t take away your child. It’s what

reminds you that he lived.


Do not make

comparisons about how long it takes

you versus someone else. This is your grief and it

cannot be rushed.


It takes time to rebuild

your life with new dreams, and you will

always hurt over the ones that will

never come true.


There were days I wanted

to slip out of my skin & be somewhere else or

someone else so I didn’t have

to face this hurt


“The more I deny the

grief, the harder it comes back at me.” --Tamara Rollison


If only my love would have been enough to

prevent my child from an early exit


Burying a child doesn’t mean you have to bury

their memory.


There is no solving grief or putting it in a

get-over-it box


Emotional Hibernation

is curling up with grief-- embracing it and

allowing it in, then allowing it to leave

without feeling guilty.


As you travel the path to emotional healing, you’ll meet people you would have never met had this tragedy not happened.

That’s a gift.


Over time, tears of agony

become tears of remembrance. Agony

becomes ache. A hole in the heart becomes a

wound with scar tissue.


Instead of holding your

child in your arms, you learn to carry him in

your heart.


I had a direction. I had a plan. No one marked the

land mines or sent off warning flares.


My fairy Godmother

didn’t come rescue me. No angel came to me and

said this was all just a bad dream.


There is life after you’ve been broken. Your eyes

are wider, your world less rigid, your heart more

open.


Grief is an unorganized mess of emotions, the rhythm of which you

understand and adapt to over time.


Many times I feel like a

kite on a tight string in a high wind flapping

furiously in circles–ready to snap any moment.


The way I got through

each day at first was to tell myself that as bad as it was, it could never be

as bad as getting the news.


“When the world says give up, hope whispers.”

---Charles Aubrey Rogers


☺ People want to move you

out of sad like it’s their duty to make you happy when all you really want

them to do is listen.


Don’t apologize for crying because our tears are bridges to the child we

loved and lost.


“I will survive” was the phrase I fed my hurting soul at a time when my future seemed paved

with broken glass.


The love I have for my

child who died won’t stop until my own heart does.


“When we reach the end of ourselves we look up. New life and fresh death are similar in that way.”

--Christine Dudek


“Normal” left my life the day my child died


Don't let the death of a child be the last chapter of your own life. If you

need help, find it.


Do not make “I’ll never get over it” a self-fulfilling

prophecy


Grief Shaming

When someone implies that you should no longer be grieving the child you

lost.


You can live after losing a

child. Your wound will always be there but new

life will surround it. And you will be stronger.


After losing a child, all you want is

acknowledgment that your child mattered.


Your soul is rooting for you.


Don’t pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.

--Bruce Lee


Let loved ones hold you up, and connect with others who’ve gone

before you.


I will never go away

because I represent the love you have for your

child. I am that reminder that he lived and loved

you. ----Love, Grief


The song has ended but the melody lingers on.

--Irving Berlin


Grief Journey in a Jar - annemoss.com

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