The Grief Didn’t End. But It Got Quieter

Nobody tells you what to do after the funeral. After the flowers. After the texts slow down. After people stop checking in. That’s when grief really begins, not in the moment they leave, but in the weeks after, when everything is supposed to be “normal” again… and it just isn’t.

Grief doesn’t vanish, it makes space inside you, then quietly takes up residence.

Gladys D., Abuja resident

🕊️ It Wasn’t Dramatic. Just Quiet and Heavy

I didn’t cry every day. I didn’t stop eating. But I’d forget small things. Cancel plans. Avoid songs that reminded me. I became a master at moving through life with a tight throat and dry eyes.

People around me moved on. I didn’t blame them. But I stayed in that weird in-between, half here, half still with the person I lost.

🧠 How Healing Started Without Announcing Itself

There was no breakthrough moment. No big shift. Just small things:

• The first time I laughed and didn’t feel guilty

• The day I said their name without breaking

• The quiet acceptance that the sadness was mine, but it didn’t define me

Grief didn’t end, but it softened. It became something I could hold, not something that held me hostage.

🌅 What I Know Now

Grief rewrites your life.
It changes the shape of your joy.
It makes you softer, sometimes more anxious, sometimes more awake.

But it also teaches you to pay attention. To love better. To remember more deeply.

I still miss them. But now, I live in a way that honors them.

And that’s healing too.

💬 Carrying Grief?

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