"What is grief? ...It's the sorrow, the pain, the longing for the one you love, the emptiness, loneliness, shock, the overwhelming sorrow, the death of all dreams and hopes for the future, the kisses missed, hugs that can never return, dreams shattered and children yet unborn---the hole in my heart." ---Margaret Redding
On November 12, 1998, I lost the man of my dreams, my husband, lover, and soul-mate, Shelton Redding. The paragraph above captures the essence of my pain, but the overshadowing theme of this website is that although I had a hole in my heart, I was looking forward to the future, desperately desiring to be whole.
After my loss, I desperately looked through bookstores hoping to find a book that would alleviate my pain or at the very least, a book that could help me learn how to heal. My broken heart and wounded soul could find none. At that time, most books dealing with loss were written by PhD's who had never experienced the loss of a spouse. Their books were clean and clinical---my life was messy and broken.
So, I poured my heart and soul out onto paper as this was my only salvation. I journaled from September 1998 through August 1999. This was my year of grief, discovery, and finding new love. My writing is painfully honest and will reveal the insanity of one’s emotions when dealing with grief.
Although it seems impossible, one day you too will be whole in your heart if you can navigate through the valley of the shadow of death while holding on to even the smallest thread of hope.
Margaret Redding
