Stages of Grief

This is by far my favorite visual that I have found about the stages of grief. I have been trying to do a lot of reading...who am I kidding, Googling, on the stages.  Trying to make sense of my roller coaster feelings. I often feel like I go through all five stages in one day, one hour sometimes. I even think I have additional stages thrown into the mix.

Just yesterday, I was driving home and I thought to myself, "What would I do if Manny was just at my house hanging out.Giving me a big hug with laughter saying he's sorry, he was just kidding (not really gone to heaven) and his joke got out of hand.” Not a healthy thought I know, and I was trying to make sense of why I would even imagine such a scenario. The only stage I could think of was denial. Which terrified me. Before I saw the visual above, I thought denial was the first stage of grief and I was like, "Oh boy! I am back at the beginning!" 

What is weird about my scenario that I painted for myself, was when I called to tell my mom she had a similar thought earlier in the morning. We both obviously know that our imaginative situations are not true and maybe even not healthy for us. What I find ironic is that we had them on the exact same day. Either 1. We are very in tune to each other 2. Going through a very similar grief cycle or 3. both losing our minds. Maybe a mixture of all three? In all seriousness though, what I am learning is that each day is different, each hour is different, each moment is different. I am living in the never ending cycle of grief but I am making it through with a lot of support and love.