Learning to Dance with Grief: A Journey Back to Life

Grief is a deeply personal journey. No two people experience it in exactly the same way. For some, grief feels like a tidal wave, crashing in unexpectedly, overwhelming every sense. For others, it is more like a quiet ache, a companion that lingers softly in the background. But no matter how it shows up, one thing is certain: grief is born from love. The intensity of our grief is often a direct reflection of the depth of our love for the person we have lost.

I know this firsthand. I lost my husband in 2020, after 38 years of marriage. It has taken me four years to get to where I am today. Was it too slow? Too fast? It doesn’t matter, because this is my journey, and I get to create it at my own pace. In my darkest despair, I wanted nothing more than to be left alone—to feel the full weight of the pain. For the first year or two, that darkness felt comforting. It connected me to my loss. It was my companion, wrapping around me like a warm blanket.

Only when I was ready—when I knew it was time—did I begin to step out of that darkness. The same will be true for you. Grief is not something you rush or avoid; it’s something you live with, learn from, and eventually dance with. You will know when it’s time to step out and maybe smell the roses again. Your loved one will guide you. Your love will guide you. And when you’re ready, you’ll start taking those small steps toward life once more.

The dance with grief is not about forgetting or diminishing the love we feel. It is about weaving that love into the fabric of our new reality. We move forward not because we want to leave them in the past, but because we still have the gift of life, and they do not. We carry them with us on this journey, speaking their name, sharing their stories, and bringing their essence into the spaces we inhabit. To speak their name aloud is not just to remember; it is to honor them. It is to acknowledge that while they may be gone physically, they remain a part of us.

Grief is not a straight line; it is a journey that takes time. Baby steps. Some days, it will feel like we are making progress, and other days, it may feel as though we are back at the beginning. But with every step, we are finding our way to a new life, one where we can laugh, love, and live fully again, all while keeping the memory of our loved one close.
This dance, however, is not always easy to learn on our own. Sometimes, we need guidance, support, and a safe space to process our emotions.

That is why I created Life After Loss. It is not just about surviving grief—it’s about returning to life, but with a new perspective. We return not as we were before, but as someone who has been forever shaped by the love we have lost. And as we move forward, we do so with them in our hearts, always.

In this space, we can explore the dance of grief together. We can learn how to integrate loss into our lives in a way that allows us to honor our loved ones while also embracing the future. You don’t have to walk this path alone. There is a way to return to life—one step at a time.

Love,
Tania