The Healing Journey

November 28, 2023

Franco and Angelina were going to the 90th birthday party of one of their friends, Tony.

By the time you reach 90, most people have seen a lot of loss in life, and the same was true of Tony, who had five sons and lost one as a teenager. His first wife died, his second wife died, his son died and his grandson died. After losing two wives, he decided it would be safer not to marry the girl he was dating, but she died anyway.

That’s a lot of grief for one person to endure in life. What did he do? He kept putting one foot in front of the other. He didn’t run away from the pain. He faced it head-on.

Sometimes he seemed strong, but many times he felt weak. Grief can be such a confusing thing, and by the time you reach your 90s, you can be sure you will have seen your fair share of it.

Rocco didn’t have any great pearls of wisdom about how to get through grief. However, a few things kept him going because he enjoyed life. He played bocci with his friends every week and he met them regularly at Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee and chocolate donuts. And his simple formula helped get him through his grief a day at a time.

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