Grieving Someone You Love: What People Don't Talk About

Yesterday marked 6 years since I lost my dad.

Six years.

And somehow… it still doesn’t feel like a number that makes sense.

People often talk about grief in ways that feel neat and digestible—like it’s something you move through in stages, check off, and eventually “heal” from. But what people don’t talk about is how grief actually lives. How it lingers. How it reshapes you in quiet, unexpected ways.

Grief Doesn’t Expire

There’s this unspoken expectation that after a certain amount of time, you should be “better.” That you should have learned how to carry it more gracefully. That it shouldn’t hit you as hard.

But grief doesn’t follow a timeline.

Six years later, I still have moments where it feels just as heavy as day one. Not every day—but when it hits, it hits. A memory, a smell, a random thought… and suddenly I’m right back in that space of missing him deeply.

The World Keeps Moving (Even When You Don’t Want It To)

One of the hardest parts? Life doesn’t pause for your grief. People go to work. They laugh. They celebrate. And you do too—but there’s always a part of you that feels like it’s carrying something invisible. Something others can’t quite see or fully understand.

You learn how to show up anyway. You learn how to smile and still feel the ache underneath.

The Small Moments Hurt the Most

It’s not always the big milestones that break you. It's the little things:

Wanting to call them and realizing you can’t

Hearing a song they loved

Seeing something that reminds you of their laugh

Needing advice only they would give

Those quiet, everyday moments are where grief whispers the loudest.

You Become a Different Version of Yourself

Losing someone you love changes you. There’s no going back to who you were before.

And that’s something people don’t talk about enough. You grow around the grief. You carry it with you into every new version of yourself. It shapes how you love, how you connect, how you see the world.

And sometimes… it makes you softer. Sometimes it makes you stronger. Most times, it makes you both!

Missing Them Never Stops

Here’s the truth people don’t say out loud:

You don’t “get over” losing someone you love.

You learn how to live with it.

You learn how to breathe through it.

You learn how to keep going… while still missing them every single day.

To My Dad

Six years later, and I still miss you just as much. I still wish I could hear your voice, feel your presence, and tell you everything that’s happened. I hope I’m making you proud.

I hope you know how much you’re still loved. And I hope you know… you’re never forgotten.

*If you’re grieving someone you love, just know this:

There is no “right” way to grieve.

There is no timeline you have to follow.

And you are not alone in the way you feel—even in the parts no one talks about.

Grief is love that still has somewhere to go.

-Paris