I've been thinking a lot about grief lately. How afraid I am of it, and yet how unavoidable it ultimately is. And then I came across this wonderful piece by James Lileks, about going home for his mother's death. In the midst of my brooding, it was hard to read, but it reaffirmed three truths about grief—(1) it's hard, (2) you can't get away from it, and (3) given 1 and 2, you may as well let it wash over you like sea over sand. Some bits of you will be washed away and lost in the process, but some new ones will also be left behind as the waves do their work.