Because my grief seems quiet and apart,
Think not for such a reason it is less.
True sorrow makes a silence in the heart,
Joy has its friends, but grief its loneliness.
Robert Nathan

Till death do us part": When the wedding vows are spoken, it might as well read "forever," because death seems but a remote possibility for the young. But forever eventually comes, and when it does, the tight knot tied at the wedding is severed, leaving frayed ends in need of binding.

Gone is the dear companion, the keeper of books, the vacation partner, the purchaser of groceries, the maker of dinner, or the fixer of cars. Gone is the one who shares sunsets or midnight diaperings or pet jokes or holiday traditions. Gone. In one final moment, it's all gone, to be replaced by grief, a miserable substitute.

The First Moments

There is no good way to tell someone a spouse has died. Police dread death notices. Doctors hate announcing a failure. Friends feel incapable. That's why the chore often ...