🎙️ CROW CONFESSION: How to Support Someone Grieving

There are some griefs that the world still doesn’t know how to talk about.
The loss of a dream. A friendship. A future. A beloved companion—on two legs or four.

Losing a pet? It’s one of them.

“This isn’t about cheering them up. It’s about standing still with them.”

But love is love, featherbrain.
It doesn’t get smaller just because it had four legs or a wagging tail.
It’s still grief. It’s still real. And it deserves sacred presence.

Here’s the thing:
When someone loses a beloved animal, they’re not “just losing a pet.”
They’re losing a companion, a confidant, a tiny piece of unconditional love in a world that doesn’t hand that out easily.

So if you’re wondering how to show up for a friend whose heart is breaking wide open?
Here’s the simple truth:

You don’t have to fix them.
You just have to be there.

🖤 1. Be Present.
No perfect words required.
No polished performance needed.
Just your presence.

Sit with them.
Hold their hand.
Let them laugh or cry or go completely quiet.
Your stillness says, “You don’t have to hold this alone.”

🖤 2. Ask What They Need (but Trust Silence Too).
It’s okay if they don’t know what they need.
Grief is confusing.
The greatest gift you can give is letting them be messy, uncertain, sacredly undone.

You can gently ask:
"What feels good right now? Talking? Quiet? Food? Distraction?"

And if they shrug or stare into the air?
That’s fine too.
You’ve already answered: You stayed.

🖤 3. Honor the Love (Don’t Rush the Pain).
Don’t skip to the silver linings.
Don't rush to “at least.”
Stay with the love.

Ask about the silly quirks.
The weird habits.
The paw prints (or fingerprints) they left on every couch, every memory.

Grief is love in its rawest form.
You honor it by letting it breathe.

🖤 4. Don’t Try to Cheer Them Up.
You’re not a Hallmark card.
You’re a lighthouse.

Grief doesn’t need cheerleaders.
It needs company.
It needs someone willing to sit in the dark and whisper, "It’s okay to hurt."
They need permission to break.
And they need to know breaking isn’t the end—it’s part of loving deeply.

🖤 5. Let the Tears (and Silence) Flow.
No rush.
No timeline.
No shame.

Grief doesn’t obey calendars.
It doesn’t care what society says is “normal.”
It unspools on its own sacred clock.

Tears are holy.
They’re proof that the love was real.
Let them come.
Let them dry.
Let them come again.

The silent moments are not failures.
They’re offerings.

🪶 CROW FLIGHT NOTE: Grief Isn’t a Problem to Solve

Grief is a season.
It’s a sacred molt.
It strips away everything performative and leaves you standing there—bare, real, aching, holy.

And every person deserves space to move through it at their own speed.

Whether it’s the loss of a dog, a cat, a grandparent, a friend, a dream—
Grief is proof of love.

Let it be messy.
Let it be inconvenient.
Let it ruin a Tuesday afternoon and reshape the whole month.

“You are not wrong for grieving hard.
You are not broken for still missing them six months later.
You are not dramatic for feeling like your chest got rearranged.

You are human.
You are sacred.
You are grieving.

And you don’t have to hold it alone.”

💬 CROW QUESTIONS (Comment or Reflect):

• What helped you most during a time of grief?

• Have you ever had someone show up for you just by being there?

• If you could say one thing to someone you lost, what would it be?

🖤 CROW QUOTE TO REMEMBER:

"You’re not there to fix grief.
You’re there to hold space for it to breathe."