Dear Editor: Grief is a beast. We’ve seen many losses this past year, and it pains me to imagine how many of my neighbors are walking that path alone.
I’d like to share a poem with you:
“I am filled with love
as a great tree with the wind,
as a sponge with the ocean,
as a great life with suffering,
as time with death.”
These words were written by Anna Swir, a Polish Resistance Fighter and poet who lived through World War II. So often, we fear death – how it lingers, how it hurts. Death is universal, but Swir reminds us that so too is love: the love we have for each other, for those we’ve lost, and the love they forever hold for us.
On Saturday, May 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Brave Heart Volunteers invites you to The Altered Heart Bereavement Retreat – a day where we come together over soup and bread, honor our stories, and navigate loss collectively.
Just as we can feel bottomless grief, so too do we hold endless love.
Though the event is free of charge, spaces are limited, so please register soon by emailing Maddie@BraveHeartVolunteers.org or calling 907 747-4600. Let us warm each other’s hands.
With hope,
Maddie Gillissie, Program Director
Brave Heart Volunteers
