67 Comments
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Marilyn Morris's avatar

I love the way you intertwine prose with paintings. It graphically illuminates the artists’ intense feelings of grief.

Carlo Bloch's avatar

Cit.

<<The death happens in a single moment. The loss takes the rest of your life…>>

Also you gave us this beautiful sentence, a great gift. I like it a lot, as it is sadly, really the truth.

THNX

Nina's avatar

One of the most beautiful articles I’ve read. Thank you. 🩷

JB808's avatar

Once again, I am awed by your ability to touch those spots in us that rarely get touched at all. I fumble to find adequate words to thank you for your sheer wizardry. These will have to do.

Xina M Uhl's avatar

Thank you for this reminder of the beauty, longing, and grief, of life. My husband of 40 years has been gone for a bit more than a month now. Life is quiet, but I am hurt and angry and heartbroken and grateful all at once. Sometimes it takes reading something like your words to break open the shell surrounding me so that I can feel still.

Mary Norton's avatar

Xina - he is always there for you - I lost my husband 5 years ago and it is only now that I see all the little messages and gifts he sends me through helping and noticing other peoples pain and loss - hold on 👍

Xina M Uhl's avatar

Thank you, friend. He was an alcoholic who was suffering a lot so it's not just that I miss him but I also have other, complicated feelings at the same time.

Anita Web Weaver's avatar

Beautiful! Profound! Amazing!

You captured the deep nuances of pain, loss and grief in a real way.

Thank you for this post.

llaw555's avatar

Everything you said!

Pamela's avatar

Thank you 🙏 This touched me deeply and in turn filled my soul….🕊️

Debórah's avatar

You make the world a better place, James. Thank you ♥️

Stacey Vulakh's avatar

Breathtaking, thank you.

Mary Norton's avatar

Thank you James - we are all in this together but you always manage to shine a light through the cracks 🙏

Linda Cardillo's avatar

Such beauty I am overwhelmed

Kathleen Banfield's avatar

This is worth saving. I plan to share it with my neighbors, who.just lost everything in a house fire.

Alex's avatar

In the first months of sudden grief, I could not listen to music or have the radio on, I was just huddled in silence, like being under water. And every so often my brain could no longer bear the pain, and for a few moments it would forget what had happened. Then all would come rushing back, like an electric shock to my chest, nearly doubling me over. That was even worse than the constant gnawing grief.

Sheri-Lee Langlois's avatar

Yes, yes, yes. Thank you for this blessing of a piece. It seems that the fine crafting of words, the hypnosis of beautiful music, and the discovery of our sensitivity by seeing certain artworks are guardians of our sanity in times of deep grief. Thank you for reminding us where to go in our darkness and that we might bring a needy friend with us too.🇨🇦

Tinkerbell's avatar

This was such a divine compilation of truth and wisdom told by some of the greatest minds on love, suffering, grief…signifying the depth of human connections and how they have the power to transform us in unimaginable ways.

ArtBart's avatar

Having had my fair share of loss, some very recently, your writing moved me to tears from recognition of everything you wrote and heartfelt appreciation of all that you shared. Thank you, I have shared this with people who right now, need to read your kindness and understanding. Bless you.