Think of grief as a siege. Despair has you surrounded and outnumbered. Your defenses are stretched thin. And despair isn't just sitting at the gates waiting for you to give up. It's growing – invading your thoughts, taking the little bits of normalcy you still have and making every effort to break your ranks.

The last week or so has been rough for both of us, and I suspect we're starting to realize that the last few weeks weren't a break from our lives; they are our lives, and that we can't take a break because there isn't one.

Our grief counselor has warned that eventually someone will, without meaning to, say The Wrong Thing to one of us. The Wrong Thing isn't intended to punch you in the gut, but that doesn't mean you don't feel the sting.