Hidden Grief | Jealousy

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One thing I've noticed about grief support, is that the folks who tend to be most supportive and understanding to others are also the folks who have experience losing someone important. 

In this #HiddenGrief submission, we get a glimpse into the experience of what it's like when you're the first person in your peer group to experience deep grief. And a double whammy that it happened to them when they were so young. 

Four stick figures, each in a different color, stand next to each other with arms wrapped around each other or holding hands. Text reads, "I have a group of friends who have been an enormous part of my life since childhood."
One friend is wearing a black dress standing before an urn. Their friends stand behind her. Text reads, "My dad was diagnosed with cancer when we were sophomores, and he died the following year."


Four characters are in the scene, and a new friend is wearing a black dress in front of an urn. She is held by two friends while the fourth bring her tissues. Text reads, "Fast forward 12 years, and the mother of one of those friends died unexpectedly from an aneurism."
Text reads, "My friends tried to support me —  I know they did the best they could, but we were teenagers. Within a month or so, I felt a lot of indirect pressure to be "normal". The blue stick figure says, "We didn't really talk about my dad or his death. Ever."
The blue stick figure is holding a box of tissues. Text reads, "I'm proud of the way we are showing up for my friend. Over the past seven months we've: organized a meal trail, helped her organize funeral details, books a weekend out of town for Mother's Day, Called or texted every day, sat with her in silence, made ourselves available."
Blue stick figure take a tissue and wipes their eyes. Text reads, "I'm thankful that I can do all of this for my dear friend. But only in seeing what support looks like, do I realize how little I received for my own grief. I know right now that it's not about me, and i feel selfish even confessing this anonymously. But lately I've felt so sad for teenage me who was so sad and lost and didn't have the support of her best friends."

If you have a grief-related to confession, you can submit it anonymously here. Check our Instagram page for past and future #HiddenGrief posts. 

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