Turning Grief into a Christmas Cookie

I will be making my Grandmother's Christmas sugar cookies this weekend and of course her memory is strong in my mind and heart. I've washed off the cookie cutters and set aside the 3 that my mom used as a girl: the bell, the Santa and a bird. Those are made last, so that she can be part of the festivities in my mind.

Thinking about these 2 powerful women in my life had me thinking about how grief is like a cookie. Know what I mean?

Well, the memories we have are like the sugar and the vanilla added to the dough-they give a bit of flavoring and make things sweet. Mixing all the ingredients is just like the mix of emotions that hit at odd times, usually when you think you are doing "just fine" with things. And you do have to roll the dough out, just like the best way for coping with grief is to just roll with the waves of sadness and swim to the other side of the shore to find the warmth and gratitude for the relationship, just like the warm cookies fresh from the oven. And when you chew your cookie, you know that grief does bite, but you don't have to let it burn.

It's a tough time for a lot of folks who have lost someone important to them this year. If that's you, give yourself the gift of an hour with a cup of tea or a glass of milk and a couple of cookies. Grief will change and flow-let it.

And know you are important to many people and their support can be the icing on the cookie.