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Find out more about Jerilyn: Jerilyn Dufresne is a licensed clinical social worker and provides therapy at a mental health center. Her past work has been with crises and disasters. She’s also been a stand-up comic. Reach her at jerilynexaminer@ameritech.net. |
We all know the exhiliration of falling in love and the hard work of keeping that love alive on a day to day basis.
And many of us know the utter anguish of losing love whether through death, divorce, or just an unhappy ending.
That mountaintop feeling can extinguish quickly. The day to day love is indeed hard work but certainly worth the effort. But the loss--sometimes it's unbearable, even if you're the one who did the leaving.
I read a book long ago called How to Survive the Loss of Love by Peter McWilliams and HH Bloomfield. This simple, even simplistic, book caused me to think, cry, laugh, and be thankful. Thankful because I had something precious, though it was now gone.
I also spoke to friends and went to counseling for a while. I was far from home and long distance was expensive in those days so I didn't take advantage of seeking help from loved ones.
One friend, in the midst of a divorce, curled up in a ball and pulled the covers over her head, not surfacing for three days.
Another tried to cure her blues by going on a massive shopping spree, spending money she didn't have, causing another kind of pain (and guilt) later.
What did you do when your love left or died? How did you survive the loss of love? The conversation continues with you.
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