Changing the Ending

Laurie Taylor

Our clients represent various ethnicities, ages, socioeconomic levels, spiritualities, causes of death, and past experiences with loss. Their differences are many, but the common thread that binds them together is the grief they bear after the death of someone they dearly love. Their hearts are joined in sorrow, rooted in love and grasping for hope.

I’ve talked with hundreds of bereaved children, teens and adults over the years. As I listen to their stories, their souls touch mine. After all, the soul is where love abides and where grief plants itself for a time. The beginning of the story they share with me is filled with loss and sorrow. I know that all their stories end in the death of a loved one, but I want to rewrite their narrative. I want to speak magic words that will remove their sorrow. It took a long time for me to learn that I’m just not that powerful. All I can do is plant seeds of hope and trust they take root and grow.

As clients of all ages participate in our programs, I understand more and more clearly that I can’t change the beginning of their stories. And they can’t change them either. However, as C.S. Lewis so wisely wrote, “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

I am so honored to walk alongside our clients as they journey through their grief and slowly, but surely, mourn their loved ones, process their grief, embrace life again, and change the ending.