Because grief is so painful, you have probably been tempted to seek not only relief, but also escape. Don’t! While that reaction is not unusual, it is counterproductive. As painful as your grief is, it is not a foe to be overcome but a friend to be embraced. If you insist on thinking of your grief as an enemy, you will only delay the healing process. You may deny your grief, even repress it for a time, but you cannot escape it. One way or another, you will grieve. The only real choice you have is