“You will be sad but don’t stay there. I will be closest to you when you are doing things that make you happy.”
– JoAnn Dubé

As I remember my wife, JoAnn, today, six years since her death, I remember her words. We who have lost loved ones are all allowed to still experience the grief as there is no time expiration. When it arises naturally, the sadness wells up and is not to be denied if we are to heal. At the same time to dwell there does no honor to our loved ones.

Jesus has conquered death and when we hold on too tightly to the grief we are less able to experience the resurrection. I have experienced the waves of pain and have allowed them to rise up. But in not staying there, I have been able to experience joy again. Not because JoAnn is gone but because God has blessed me with the vocation of the priesthood and the blessing of a new family here at Holy Cross Catholic Church.

Just like the waves ebb and flow, so do our emotions. When we can feel the pain of loss, we can heal, and in feeling, we can also laugh and appreciate life more fully when we resist taking any moment for granted. JoAnn had a great laugh and smile. May this picture bring some joy into your life today as it is doing for me.