It's been a year and a half now and I realized well after Mother's Day that I'm not done grieving. And long after I thought I was o.k., I realize I'm not. I still miss her. I finally went to go talk to someone -- I told myself I would much earlier, but never got around to it. The weeks before and the weeks after Mother's Day this year were so bleak and dark that I finally felt myself snap. And I still wasn't sure it was grief. Just everything else in my life gone wrong.

I've never been to a psychologist before and I'm fairly suspect of their efficacy. But I can't argue the benefit of having someone to talk to that won't tell anyone else what you've told them and that isn't a part of your normal life. Someone you can share things with that you've stopped sharing with your friends and family. Because you're worried you'll wear them out, worried of going over the same ground over and over again, and because you don't even realize that you need to keep covering that ground.

When I called to make my appointment I asked, what do you specialize in?. I figure they must all have something they specialize in. She said she didn't have a speciality, but dealt mostly with work issues, grief, and life changes. I told her she was perfect and went to see her. I spent half the session talking about my mom and I hadn't anticipated that. I haven't told the story of the accident in so long, it was cathartic to retell it and to recall that memory, slightly faded as it was. She told me I should start reading one of the many books I'd bought on grief that I never got around to reading so I started On Grief and Grieving tonight. And the intro is already full of God so I'm skeptical, but it's also full of dying and that's cathartic, too.

I got a phone message this week about a car accident my mom was in before her death. And it made me sad and angry. Why do I have to deal with this? Shouldn't this be over? But I guess life and all its responsibilities go on after death for the rest of us still living.

Death's been busy in my life lately. I just finished Harry Potter: The Half Blood Prince. It made me sob. I recently joined a new writers group and one of our first stories is about the loss of a son. Haven't had the heart to read it yet. My sister's fiance's stepfather just passed away yesterday. I only met him once, but my heart breaks for his wife.

And me -- I don't want to say goodbye. But I know I have to.