Remember that Letters to Grief link-up we had in December? Well, thirty brave writers linked up their own letters to grief, and totally blew me away with their powerful words. I found myself quoting like crazy on Twitter, and took so many gems away with me from those posts.

Here are some of my favorite quotes, all meshed together into one letter to grief. Click each quote to visit the full post of each respective writer:

Dear Grief,

“When I was younger, I thought you only had to do with death. … But that’s not the only place you lurk. You don’t just stand on the sidelines after death visits. You’ve made your presence known in other ways.” ~ Jen D.

“I blamed you for so much. … You remind me I once had something worth missing when lost. The memories are tinged with hurt and sweetened with love. You give that to me. You grant me the ache to remember.” ~ Jessica H.

“You are there in the deep ache of my soul, the missing beat of my heart. You are the empty place at my table, the missing smile from my photographs.” ~ Sara M.

“You swept in on the tail of Loss and haven’t looked back. Your goal is to overwhelm and overtake and your success is marked by the emptiness left behind.” ~ Mary G.

“Sometimes I’m not sure if you are still lurking in the spare bedroom or if you’ve left for good or just momentarily. You tip toe around my house and I feel on edge that you are going to pop out and catch me by surprise, because that’s the way you always seem to show up.” ~ Syndal L.

“You are not what I once thought you were. You are both more and less. I have severely underestimated you.” ~ Abby A.

“The moment before I was cut in two, you looked me straight in the eye and didn’t look away. You took refuge in the emptiness of my heart. You crept in while I was in shock, and wrapped your tendrils through my insides. Perhaps you think, as I do, things would have been better if we never met.” ~ Meghan S.

“You have made me feel like I have to have it all together and I need to get it all together. I look back over this past year and see the path of destruction like a tornado’s path with nothing but pieces left behind. Pieces of me are there. I’ve been working my mind to exhaustion looking back there and longing for the pieces of myself. Thinking I had to go back there and pick them up and fit them back inside of me.” ~ Shana W.

“You are also the only one with whom I have danced cheek to cheek since then and  you are not a graceful dancer. Besides my toes, you also stepped on my heart. Then you dipped and twirled me at the wrong times and places as we waltzed to life’s music.” ~ Michele K.

“Your problem is that you cannot be predicted nor defined. You come as a unique visitor to each of us, rarely on time and often in disguise. You hide yourself in many forms, putting on a mask of anger to make us feel strong instead of weak. Sometimes you sink deeply into the soul, bringing depression and despair that seems impossible to escape. 

… We the Redeemed can meet you without despair; acknowledge you without empty clichés; join with others who dwell in your shadow without demanding answers or reasons.

So come, dear grief, teach us to sorrow well because of the hope of a risen Savior who will make all things new and eradicate your presence from our broken world entirely when He returns again. You will not own us, though you may visit us more frequently than we would choose.” ~ Heather N.

Thank you so much to all who wrote and linked up. To read other posts from the link-up, click here.