In seventh grade, my best friend’s mother died. I had been waiting around all afternoon for my friend because we were supposed to go to the park, but she wasn’t answering the phone (land lines at that time). As afternoon turned into evening, I got upset that she hadn’t called back. When she finally did later that night, I answered demanding a good excuse. Then she delivered the news that her mother had a brain aneurism earlier that day and that her family was at her house making funeral arrangements. I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t even sure it was real, even asking her if she was serious (she was). Later that night, I cried in my bed with my mom. Mostly I was sad for my friend, but I was also afraid. What did I know about grief? I worried I would never be able to talk to her normally again.
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