01/10/2026
There’s a moment after loss that feels like standing in a doorway. Not quite in the place you came from, and not yet able to step into where you’re going.
It’s a strange, suspended space…a kind of in-between that feels both still and restless all at once.
When someone we love is gone, everything that used to feel solid shifts. The world continues to spin, people keep going to work, the sun still rises, and yet, our inner world has been shattered.
We can’t go back to the life we had when they were here, but we also don’t yet know how to move forward into a life that doesn’t include them. So we stand there for a while, in that doorway, trying to breathe in the silence.
Here’s the thing…this threshold can feel like limbo.
You might find yourself replaying old memories like a movie you can’t stop watching, remembering sounds, gestures, laughter, all the little details that made your world feel complete.
And yet, at the same time, there’s a quiet awareness that life is still asking something of you. It’s asking you to somehow keep going, even when your heart isn’t ready.
I actually think this threshold is sacred ground, even though it doesn’t feel sacred while you’re in it. It’s the space where love is teaching us how to live differently, how to hold what was in one hand, and what might be in the other. It’s where we start to learn that grief isn’t just about endings, but about carrying love into unknown places.
If you’re standing in that doorway right now, take your time.
Don’t rush yourself through it.
The life that waits on the other side isn’t asking you to forget what came before, it’s patiently waiting for you to bring the love, the memories, and the pieces of your heart that still ache.
You don’t have to know what life will look like next. You just have to keep breathing, one small step at a time, until you’re ready to move again.
And someday…and without knowing exactly when it happens, you’ll realize you’ve stepped through.
Gary Sturgis – Surviving Grief
