It’s O.K. To Be Sad if Your Friend Died

It’s O.K. To Be Sad if Your Friend Died

That’s what I keep reminding myself. I have a theory that depression can kill you and negativity can make you sick. So I’m pretty good at finding the bright side of life and making people see the humor in any situation. Yes, that aggravates the crap out of the Terminally Negative, which I also find humorous.

But my friend Cat died from Covid a few days ago. I find sadness washing over me now and then. Yesterday they asked me to come to help clean out her apartment. I want to be helpful, right? Right inside the door were all her silly hats. We picked on her for being Cat in the Hat. I remember that flowery lavender one, I see her sitting in the garden that sunny day, fabric flowers ruffling in the breeze. And I feel sad.

I started to help the others, but I wanted to leave. “What’s wrong?,” Debbie asked. “I feel sad,” I answered. “That’s appropriate,” she answered. Yeah, that’s appropriate. Joking is not appropriate right now. It’s O.K. to be sad if your friend died. It’s not very pleasant, though, is it?