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The People Who Helped the Most When My Father-In-Law Died
Many of my friends are going through difficult times right now, so I’ve been reflecting back on when my father-in-law died and thinking about the things that helped me then.
I hope I can be as helpful to others, as people were to me when I needed it.
It was often not the things I would’ve expected to be helpful. And it was not always the people I would’ve expected either.
Being someone to talk to
This is not who I would’ve expected, but my boss ended up being incredibly supportive leading up to and right after my father-in-law died. I was just re-reading the emails we sent each other during that time. This was over seven years ago and I had forgotten how many there were and how out of my mind I was.
It felt like reading Flowers for Algernon, but with me having been the main character. (But I didn’t get more intellectual.)
The emails started professional, with me just simply and factually stating why I could not come in to work. After the one where I said, “I’m not going to be able to work for quite a while. He’s still alive kind of. I would be an awful teacher. I can’t control my emotions. […] I know it’s not really your job to read about stuff like this but I’ll be better eventually” the emails shifted.
