These past two days, so many people have come to pay respects—to say how sorry they are. Their words are hollow, empty, soundless bubbles rising to the surface of the water.
"Gertie is with the angels now."
"We're praying for you."
The school teacher, Delilah Banks, came calling, "Gertie had the most fanciful thoughts!" She said through tears. "I can't tell you how very much I will miss her."
One teary-eyed face after another. A chorus of voices low and somber, "So sorry, we're so, so very sorry."
I do not wish for their sympathy. What I want is my Gertie back. And if no one can give me that, then as far as I'm concerned, the world can just go away and take their tears, and pot pies, and gingerbread with them.
Holly Margl is the award-winning author of Witnessing Grief; Inviting Trauma and Loss to Our Coaching Conversations, An Enneagram Perspective, coach, coach mentor, and trainer specializing in grief, trauma, and the Enneagram.
