Saw this today and felt I needed to hear this, actually made me cry, so sharing for anyone who needs to hear this too...
You need to give yourself more grace.
I know you're being hard on yourself. I know you're judging every breakdown, every canceled plan, every moment you're "not handling it well."
I know you're comparing yourself to who you were before. And you're disappointed that you're not that person anymore.
But you need to stop.
Because what you're going through requires grace. So much grace.
Grace for the days you can't get out of bed. Grace for the times you snap at people who don't deserve it. Grace for forgetting things, for being late, for not following through.
Grace for crying in public. For avoiding places that remind you of them. For not being able to handle things you used to handle easily.
Grace for the fact that some days, just surviving is all you can manage.
You're carrying an impossible weight. You're living through the worst thing that's ever happened to you. You're trying to function in a world that doesn't make sense anymore.
And you're doing it. Badly, maybe. Messily, definitely. But you're doing it.
That deserves grace.
You wouldn't expect someone with a broken leg to run a marathon. You wouldn't judge someone recovering from surgery for needing time to heal.
So why are you judging yourself for struggling with grief?
Grief is an injury. A deep, devastating wound that doesn't heal on anyone else's timeline. And you need to treat yourself like someone who's been hurt.
With gentleness. With patience. With grace.
Stop holding yourself to impossible standards. Stop comparing grief-you to before-you. Stop expecting yourself to function like you did when your world was intact.
You're not the same. And that's okay.
Give yourself permission to be different. To be struggling. To be a work in progress.
Give yourself permission to not be okay.
And when you mess up—when you cancel plans, when you forget things, when you can't handle what you used to handle—give yourself grace.
Not because you're weak. Not because you're failing.
But because you're human. And you're grieving. And that's hard enough without adding self-judgment on top of it.
So be kind to yourself. Be patient with yourself. Be gentle with yourself.
Give yourself the grace you'd give anyone else going through what you're going through.
You deserve it.
Even on the days you don't feel like you do.
Especially on those days.
Written by: Aimee Suyko - In Their Footsteps
#loss #death #grief #grieving #griefsupport #griefjourney
I still have nights when I can't sleep. but luckily like you MrsVT I'm retired so it doesn't matter when I get up or go to bed. I keep trying to get myself into a routine and sometimes it works but then falls by the wayside. I have started reading at bedtime again and that helps I have my kindle reader so I can lie in the dark and read that and it does work you can feel your eyes going and know its time to put it down. Breton you are not strange in not wanting to put any photos of your hubby out each to their own on that and you just do what you feel is right for you. I have Jay's ashes still in an urn and his picture sits by that with one of our wedding photos on the other side and I have a couple of pictures up on the wall with him and our son William like `through the ages` when William was a baby right up until he was 21. I too want to do things here but like most of you here are saying it would feel I would be erasing his memory. I have gotten rid of a lot of his clothes as I have said before but there are a lot of things that I still haven't cleared and sometimes I still can't bring myself to do it. I still have a couple of his `man drawers` filled with useless clutter that I still can't get round to clearing. Maybe one day though. Take care all.
Vicky xx
I did a bit more shredding today. Old wage slips, tax crap. A lot of it was close to 20 years old. You have to laugh.
I agree with you Kate. I am forever finding old mobile phones for some reason he collected these old keys for what I don't know, phone chargers, usb cables, Spirit levels?? CDs?? (remember them) bags of nails, stanley knives, quite a wee mixture. I admit some of them would be of use- the cables at least if they fit anything but as for the rest?? they'll go in the bin eventually
We had all these intentions of what we were going to do as a tribute to my Lovely Hubby. Our youngest son,who is staying with me until he starts his new job. He wanted to put all his hats and caps on the wall of the small lounge ,but I couldn't face seeing them every day. I was surprised at how few possessions he had . Most of the clothes he had I had bought him. I still have some items I loved to see him wearing. There is a box with bits and bats in , watches etc. I have found it overwhelming taking his good clothes to Charity shops. It is very painful. I persuaded him to buy a wax Jacket that he would be able to wear for the fishing trips he should have been taking our eldest grandson on. He was looking forward to that. I hate that those opportunities have been taken from him. Nobody in our family speak of him. Only me when i think of a memory. Does anyone else here find that too?
Yes, I find that nobody mentions David unless I do. I think people are afraid they will upset us, but for me it would be less upsetting if we brought him into conversations the way we always used to. The silence is harder to accept.
I agree. I don’t want my Paul to be forgotten. We live with this life every day, a conversation is comforting and reassuring. It validates that person, and it helps to share the good times.
Hi Breton!
Yes I get that too so many things we wanted to do still but cancer took it all from us. Jay (my late husband) had loads of baseball caps and I still have them all in a drawer I wear them sometimes. He had loads of clothes too he never wore I bought him still in the wrappers so I sold them on Vinted. I had never seen him in any of them so they were easy to get rid of its some of the things I did see him in that I still can't part with. He had a fleece jacket he always wore and a bodywarmer they still hang in the wardrobe. He was a big chunky bloke ( you would never have known though seeing him at the end) and I had to get outsize T shirts and joggers/trousers for him I still have a few of those I wear those for Pyjama tops as they are nice and long on me. He had a wax jacket as well he liked his fishing too. We had a static caravan in Argyll Scotland not far from Glasgow where I am and we went there at every opportunity weekends/holidays etc. I had to let it go though when he passed because the upkeep ground fees etc were too much for me to manage on my own. He missed the birth of our 2nd little granddaughter in October last year (2025) and our sons wedding in February 2025. He saw the first two years of my other little granddaughter when she was born in 2020 but missed her going to school last year which he wanted to be here for but as I said cancer had other ideas for him. I speak about Jay all the time now couldn't at the beginning but I just talk about him now and don't think anything of it. My son doesn't seem to speak about his dad a lot but think he remembers him in his own way. I will say something like remember when you and your dad did this/that etc and he will reply with a yes but doesn't really elaborate on it. Just so unfair sometimes when you think of what should be happening now but isn't and can't. Take Care.
Vicky x
Hello Vicky, we were living in Glasgow up until last August. We still have a son up there and his two younger children. I still have My Joe's fleece jacket .And there is a new one I bought for him that he never got to wear. I need to do something with that. We were on the Rosneath Penninsula looking across from the base . Lived there for 9 years . I moved back down to Lancashire closer to my sister . We had our last caravan in Lancashire and Joe wanted to go live in Lytham St Anne's , but that wasn't to be . My Husband was also a Cuddly build and so I couldn't give the Jacket or the other new clothes I bought him to any of the family. Not that I would want to see them wearing them. I really need to try harder to give more things away , this house is so cluttered mainly with my stuff . I was supposed to be sorting stuff out today . but I've left bags and boxes in the Lounge this evening. As I didn't sleep well last night , I fell asleep on the sofa and our youngest son woke me after midnight when he came in from work. I pottered around for a bit and now here I am in bed unable to sleep. I will have to sort the mess out tomorrow. I hope the weather up there is better than we've had it here this week. Last week was lovely. x
Just take your time Breton you will get through it all. I am still getting through stuff 2 years on.
Comes in little spurts I will have a clearing frenzy some days then other days I will just open drawers look inside and close them again. Jay wanted us to spend as much time as possible at the caravan he loved it there it definitely was our little `home from home` but its gone now. I learned though the company that owned the site had gone into administration at the end of last year so don't know if that was a godsend that I got out when I did as far as I know there has not been a buyer yet and the company is still been run by an administration company. Weather a bit changeable in Glasgow just now and still a bit chilly but hopefully it will get better. Take Care.
Vicky x
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