Sleeping too much

I married a Greek @Former-Member ....... and yes ........ the "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" scenario is so close to the truth it is a firm family favourite around here, and still brings us to fitful tears of laughter !!

And yes, the Greek culture is an ancient one, and together with the Orthodox faith, has some very practical and compassionate practices well ingrained in social (what I call) intra-dependence as a community, spreading from the nuclear family outwards ....... that doesn't mean they get it right all the time, but they can also be very gentle and forgiving about getting it wrong - like - it's okay to get things wrong too - it's all part of the crazy mix of life, and loving, and losing, and carrying forward.

Its not exclusive to the Greek culture either. I am several generations Australian in one side of the family, and a couple of generations Austalian on the other side, from essentially a Celtic-Brit ancestry, like so many others here, but I see echoes across all cultures of some version of this outlook ..... and some cultures have lost their connections a bit, and here we have become such a blend of cultures - in that sense we are still quite young as a nation. We need to dig deep into the resources of the cultural inheritances that have landed on these shores, or were in existence long before as for our First People, and find the commonality of our human-ness and that thread of common experience ......... we need to help each other to stand, not try to be the strongest one standing. We can all stand strong together ....... 🌷

There, that's my little soap-box bit for the day ...... 😊

Thanks for the recipe @Former-Member. I am going to make a seafood version of that for dinner. Sounds yum ❣

Hi @Former-Member,

Similar to @Faith-and-Hope, I think the 'body knows', and occasionaly it will bring pains and emotions to the surface, sometimes through dreams, other times through illness. Grief, as painful and tormenting as it seems, is an important process. It reminds us that we loved, that we cared, and what we had was important. Grief lets us know that what we had was something special, something divine. Something not easy to let go of.

I'm not sure if grief ever goes away. The loss of your little girl will remain, but as @Faith-and-Hope reminds us, we can make voluntary space for the loss, during anniversaries, or even just giving yourself a day or two after a dream that reminds you of them to reflect on your time together. Allow yourself to grief, to feel sad, to think about them, the lesson you learned from the relationship, and most of all cry. I promise you that while you will still miss her, it will get easier. Grief's tight grasp will loosen.

Surrounding yourself with people who can support you through your grief is important. Perhaps they'll be times where just want a friend who can hang out with you and talk small talk. Maybe other times, it will be other family members who can reminisce on good times of your daughter. Be careful of those who (usually unitentionally) are not supportive. Nuture yourself with supportive company.

Hugs to you,

CB

That could have been written for me @Former-Member. Well written.😊💜

Good for you @Former-Member ❣

And as @Former-Member says, encouragement to others in the same boat ....... 🚣