How is my aunt supposed to cope with a loss of this magnitude? I cannot fill the void left by my uncle but this special poem by Kahlil Gibran may bring my aunt some comfort by making sense of loss.
Most people know Gibran by his book The Prophet. The following poem, "On Joy and Sorrow" is a part of this famous book. I have found this writing to be of great comfort to me when I have suffered from profound loss, and what loss can be more profound than the loss of a husband? My aunt does not use a computer; I sent her a copy of this poem via snail mail.
On Joy and Sorrow by Kahlil Gibran
THEN a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter
rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your
being, the more joy you can contain.
