If holidays aren’t happy: Getting through grief at this time of year
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - “Every day is hard, but the holidays, they are the worst,” said Savannah Alderwoman Linda Wilder-Bryan. “We try to stay busy because we know someone is missing from our table.”
It has been 3,600 days since Wilder-Bryan had her son Lawrence bust through her door with a big hug and a joke to tell. Each day she holds back tears coming to with what her reality is.
“He didn’t deserve it, he should be here,” said Wilder-Bryan.
They say that time heals all wounds, although the wounds will always leave a nasty scar.
For nine years, Wilder-Bryan has gone to bed on Christmas Eve praying for a Christmas miracle.
It was a miracle to hold her son just one more time.
Yet each year, a season of family and excitement is a grim reminder.
“I get full, just thinking about what could be, what should be, but isn’t,” said Wilder-Bryan.
Lawrence Bryan the 4th or LB4 was killed in the summer of 2015.
Nearly a decade later, the holidays have never been the same.
Seasonal depression around the country spikes drastically around the holidays, according to the Mayo Health Clinic.
The Mayo Clinic suggested a few things to ease the grief during the holidays:
- Keep yourself busy and surround yourself with people you love.
- Allow yourself to feel both happiness and grief.
- Take care of yourself, avoid alcohol, and stay active
- Try to create new happier traditions.
A day that used to be filled with Christmas carols and laughter, is now spent in a cemetery.
“Although this is a festive time, it is also a time where not only the Wilders and the Bryans are grieving but when other people are who want to be celebrating,” said Wilder-Bryan.
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