Deciding to sell my parents’ home came easily-I knew I needed to do that. All the preparations to get it ready to put it on the market were overwhelming at times, especially as an only child making all decisions on my own. I was able to make some upgrades to the house and those changes never bothered me either. So I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of emotions on the last two days before putting it on the market.

I found myself totally alone in the completely empty house doing some final cleaning. There was something about the emptiness that struck me and I was flooded with years of memories.

My parents built that house in the early 1960s when I was 7 years old so it is filled with most of my memories of growing up:

• my little bedroom where I played with dolls and where one morning I woke up with mumps;

•the living room with the wooden TV cabinet that entertained us with only 3 channels for years;

•the dining room that hosted many special meals with so many dear people who are no longer with us;

•the kitchen where my momma taught me how to cook and where for many years the only phone in the house was attached to the wall;

•the tiny den with our stereo cabinet where I played my records so many times;

•my bigger bedroom I moved into as a teenager where I dealt with all the angst of high school through college to the night before my wedding when I remember lying in bed hearing my daddy cry because it was my last night home;

•the backyard where I’d “lay out” on a quilt with my transistor radio & baby oil;

•plus all the holidays celebrated along with recollections of simple daily living within those walls.

All those precious memories swept over me unexpectedly and with a force I hadn’t seen coming. Grief hit me out of nowhere!

That’s the thing about grief…it most often comes when we are least prepared.

Change that involves losses of any kind causes grief. When added onto existing grief, it becomes compounded and much more complicated to deal with…our emotional and mental capacities to handle the losses are greatly affected by our circumstances. Even our physical reactions can lead to devastating effects to our bodies.

Sights, sounds, even smells can bring us memories that trigger grief. Riding the waves of that grief is exhausting on all levels!

Change is inevitable. Grief is unavoidable. But our hope is sure…our God is faithful and a dependable source of strength for us as we endure the changes we face.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in times of trouble.Psalm 46:1

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3: 21-23