My dear Five Minute Friday crew,

I wrote something for you.

It’s a collection of Letters to Grief.

You can snag a copy right over here, and if you click over before the end of Friday, December 5th, it can be yours for FREE!

I wrote it because some people think grief is a process.

I disagree.

Grief is not something we get through, at least not in this lifetime. It’s cyclical, like the moon, waxing and waning.

Image by Katie Reid, echoesofmyheart.com, Twitter: @ImprintsKatie

Ebbing and flowing like the tide. It’s always there.

Image by Katie Reid, echoesofmyheart.com, Twitter: @ImprintsKatie

I wrote it for all of you who have known grief as a close companion, an intimate friend. A shadow.

I wrote it for those of you who have not yet experienced its acute pangs, but have watched people cringe with the weight of its burden.

I wrote it not to dictate how people feel or should feel, but to open a discussion about grief’s all-consuming and ever-changing nature. Its paradoxes and its unexpected qualities.

Image by Katie Reid, echoesofmyheart.com, Twitter: @ImprintsKatie

I hope it will bless you. Most of all, I pray that it will show you hope.

[Tweet “If you wrote a letter to grief, what would you say?”]

This week’s Five Minute Friday prompt is DEAR.

If you don’t know what Five Minute Friday is, click here. Then set a timer for five minutes, and let’s write!

Ready? GO.

***

Dear Grief,

You are a fickle creature. Moody and temperamental.

You’re a chameleon, changing shades to match your surroundings. You refuse to be bottled up and contained. Labeled and understood.

You flow with a current of your own making, pulling with a strong undertow that threatens to drown me.

You push into my house uninvited. You sit down at the kitchen table and declare yourself part of the family. I bristle at first, your presence provoking anger. Then I realize you’re not going anywhere.

You’re here to stay.

I resign, and sit with you on the front porch swing. Together we rock back and forth as we watch the sun melt into the horizon.

And we wait.

Image by Katie Reid, echoesofmyheart.com, Twitter: @ImprintsKatie

Sometimes you’re a pounding downpour, and I want to run from you — to escape to dry shelter and not be touched by you. Other times you’re the gentle patter that lulls me to sleep at night, soothing and almost unnoticed.

Image by Katie Reid, echoesofmyheart.com, Twitter: @ImprintsKatie

You overwhelm, but only for a night.

Morning is coming, and its light will cause you to shrink away into the shadows and disappear forever, never to be seen again.

STOP.

***

Image by Katie Reid, echoesofmyheart.com, Twitter: @ImprintsKatie

The e-book, Letters to Grief, can be yours for FREE through Friday, December 5th on Kindle, and for $0.99 thereafter.

[Tweet “Get the e-book, Letters to Grief, for FREE through December 5th!”]

And psst … if you don’t have a Kindle, don’t despair! I don’t either, but there’s this really cool (and free) thing called the Kindle reading app, which you can get on pretty much any device (iPhone, Android, iPad, PC, Mac)! Click here to learn more about getting the free Kindle app if you don’t have it (or a Kindle) already!

Also, huge shout out and tons of gratitude to our very own Five Minute Friday sister Katie Reid for the gorgeous graphics she designed for this book launch, and to Dan King over at Fistbump Media for making the e-book a reality! Also, it was so much fun to include quotes in this book from fellow Five Minute Friday writers Meredith Bernard, Karen Brown, Alia Joy and Lisa-Jo Baker! Thank you ladies, for your role in this project!

To God be the glory.

Link up your own five minutes on the word DEAR either by clicking the inLinkz button, or by sharing your words in the comments!

 Loading InLinkz ...