As you may know, I am presently working as a Bereavement Coordinator with Albany Community Hospice. I deal with people who have experienced the death of a loved one. We have a men's group that meets monthly. Just recently we gave word to our experiences and thoughts in an attempt to express those thoughts in a poem. Below is my valiant effort based on their expressions. Thanks to the men for sharing their hearts in this process. All of us experience healing in some measure in a community of authenticity.

When You Left

When you left, everything changed.
Everything.
Including me.
I am not who I was and life is not what it was.
When you left, everything changed.

So I am here with a different life and a different future.
My routine is different.
My conversations are different.
My meals are different.
My sleeping is different.
When you left, everything changed.

And most importantly, I am different.
I changed.
I was sad, angry, afraid and disappointed.
But over time, other changes came.
Positive changes.
When you left, I learned lessons – simple, yet profound.

When you left, I learned to be less selfish
Because I realized that my time with others is brief.
When you left, I learned priorities
Some things matter and some things do not.
When you left, I learned who I am.
My heart became transparent to me for the first time.

Behind every loss is a gain.
Every sunset means a sunrise.
Every closed door means an open door.
And now that my time with you on earth is ended,
I am learning to look to the future in a whole new way.
My grief is being redeemed.
And I am grateful.

When you left, everything changed.
I hate you left.
I grieve it every day.
But I am thankful for the change.
It has done me good.
And others too.
You would be proud of who I am becoming.

Grief is a growing season of life. It is not a season we desire, but it is a part of life. All of us lose people we love somewhere down the road. I hope this poem will encourage you to embrace your grief and grow through it.