Sorrow, however, turns out to be not a state but a process…Grief is like a long valley, a winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape…not every bend does. Sometimes the surprise is the opposite one; you are presented with exactly the same sort of country you thought you had left behind miles ago. That is when you wonder whether the valley isn’t a circular trench. But it isn’t. There are partial recurrences, but the sequence doesn’t repeat.
I read this a long time ago, I’m pretty sure. Though I’m not sure I ever finished it? This time I listened to the version narrated by Douglas Gresham (with a foreword by Madeleine L’Engle). I’m bit ambivalent about some of the thoughts within this short journal presentation on grief. And some bits I would probably push back on if asked. But I appreciate the fact that this is A grief observed, not Grief observed. As I find myself observing my own slog through the long valley of grief I find resonance and insight in the stories of grief as experienced by others. And grateful that C.S. Lewis shared his.