Evolution of Grief - a primer
June 27, 2008This a sort-of new series - a not-quite-autobiographical story of a Man who just lost the Woman in his life in the form of a series of letters from him to her. No, nothing monumentally tragic like a car accident, this is just about how the man goes through the sudden but not really unforseen demise of a relatively long-lived relationship. Cliche? Yes, maybe. There’s nothing more common in this world of ours than grief. Heck, nowadays, there’s actually a toss-up on which is rarer between common sense or happiness.
The Kübler-Ross model describes how humans handle loss, grief and tragedy in five discrete stages - Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. Considered as a valid coping mechanism, these stages may not come in the abovementioned order, not everyone will experience all five stages but everyone should experience at least two. This is a front-row seat on a live (well, the Man thinks he’s dead already at the moment, but that doesn’t matter) specimen going through the roller coaster ride called Grief.
This series originally had the working title ‘Brand New Day’. WTF right? Not really. There’s this current (for now) story arc in Spiderman wherein Aunt May was dying, and the Devil offered Peter Parker and Mary Jane a deal - their marriage for Aunt May’s life. They agreed, and they all woke up in a brand new day. A ‘brand new day’ is something the Man woke up to, that I’m sure of. What kind of ‘new’ day, only time will tell.
So. Prepare the popcorn, sit back, relax. No, I’m not writing down my experiences, so no, I’m not the Man in the story. Scout’s honor. *deadpan face*
- author
