This is what Ezra has to say about grief. He wants you to pay attention. He's nine. He was 7 by three weeks when Art died. M=Mom, aka Kim
E: It's scary whenever I go to sleep because I’m afraid I will be dreaming about daddy.
M: Why do you not like that?
E: Cause then every morning I wake up and I realize that he’s never coming back and it’s really hard for me.
M: What do you miss about your dad?
E: I miss that everyone would say, “Oh your dad is so tall. I wish I had a dad like him!” and stuff like that.
M: What do you think about our new lives without him?
E: Everyone says that everything that happens on earth has a reason. And it’s really hard to believe that this has a reason.
M: What do you like about our lives now that you don’t have Daddy?
E: Come to think of it, I’m having a lot of new experience that I wouldn’t have if my dad was alive.
M: Like what?
E: One of the biggest experiences is not having dad.
M: What are your good days like?
E: I don’t know. I think about him. I have my mind on other stuff.
M: Do you have any advice for people who are grieving, adult or child?
E: If people say that they are in worse grief than you are, just say, "You know I don’t think you are." because there are different kinds of grief. So it may be they are in bigger grief than me but in a different way.
When people say that to me, I just think you don’t know how I feel, so how can you compare something when you don’t know what it is?
M: What is it like to watch me cry when I miss Daddy?
E: I have different feelings. Sometimes I feel like I let you down somehow. Sometimes I feel like I should just leave you alone because I’m not in too good a shape myself.
M: When you comfort me, how does that make you feel?
E: When I comfort you, it kind of comforts me. And also that’s why I like to play the piano sometimes. It’s another way to express myself without getting mad. It comforts me.
E: slyly. That’s why you should let me get on the piano more often.
M: Do you have any tips for widowed mothers?
E: When the kids say, “Leave me alone” the mother should. Cause a lot of times when we say, "Leave me alone." it’s just better to be left alone because it feels good to let your feelings out when you’re not with other people.
M: Ezra can I post this for other widow’s to read?
E: Well that’s why you’re writing it all down, isn’t it?
I love you Ezra. Thank you for teaching me what it's like to be you.
Ezra, you rock!
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