PART III

WHEN FRIENDS AND FAMILY DON’T

KNOW WHAT TO DO

13

SHOULD YOU EDUCATE OR IGNORE

THEM?

If you’re like most grieving people, the response from people around

you has been clumsy at best, and insulting, dismissive, and rude at worst.

We

talked about the deep roots of pain avoidance and the culture of blame in

earlier

parts of this book. It’s also important to bring it all back to your personal

life, to

help you understand—and correct—the unhelpful support of the people

around

you.