Grief Brings So Much Good & So Much Bad

It’s strange to think about, but without my grief, I wouldn’t be who I am today: the bad, and the good.

When I learned of my dad’s death, I assumed that it would just have a negative impact on me. But it surprisingly had a really positive one, too.

Without my dad dying, I wouldn’t have the amazing friends that I do today.

Without my dad’s death, I wouldn’t have found my love for helping others.

Without my dad’s death, I would be a very different person.

Realizing that my dad’s death had not just impacted me in bad ways, but in good ones too, felt like a betrayal to him. His death was not a good thing. So… how could it also bring good?

Without my dad’s death, I would still be with an old friend group, aspiring to be a journalist, and quite unhappy. Without his death, though... he would still be alive.

Acknowledging that grief brought so much good and so much bad into my life came after I accepted that I was not betraying my dad by saying that grief was more than a bad part of my life. Because, like with many things, grief has so much good and so much bad to it.

---

Written by Natalie Adams, the creator of Teenage Grief Sucks.