Another Anniversary

Today is the second anniversary of the day my sister Suz died. I wrote this poem shortly after her daughter, my niece Leanne, died this past January. I shared it in my April newsletter, but thought I’d share it here for this anniversary.

Anniversaries

Anniversaries should be fun
A reason to celebrate
Except when they commemorate death
Loss and pain
Then they are a reason to remember
A reason to let grief
Wash like a wave over me
Knocking me down
I get back up, walk into a new day
One that is not a deathiversary
There are fewer of those now

As the anniversaries multiply
The next wave hits
Before I’ve had a chance to rise
From the sinking sand, to stand

And yet, even from my sandy landing place
I glimpse the sun
I’m reminded of reasons for joy
Reasons to celebrate
Reasons to rise again and again

Loss and death are inevitable
But they are sorrows only because
Of the joy once known
With loved ones now gone

And though new joy, new memories
Hold within them the potential
For future waves of grief
I will embrace them
Because what use is life at all
If not for joy and love
For family and friends
Who make the living worthwhile
And worth the price of grief