I Can't Imagine

I attend a Grief Counseling group every week at The Ohio State University.  It's one of the services they offer for free.  It is a place for people who are experiencing/have experienced a loss to talk.  

I've met some interesting people and heard heart-wrenching stories at these sessions.  But one girl's experiences makes me wonder how she carries on in her life.  She is an only child and currently a sophomore in college.  She had lost her mother to cancer at age 13 and her father to cancer at age 15.  Hearing about her situation makes me wonder what she must have gone through.  I think about how much innocence must have been taken away at such a young age, and how much maturity it must have taken to overcome such tragedy.  I wonder who could she talk to?  Most of her friends must not have understood.  She said that many adults would tell her how sorry they were and that they lost their parents too...to old age.  Losing a parent to old age and losing a parent early on are different experiences of loss.  Don't get me wrong, I believe both are life-changing and sad, however, to lose a parent while you're still a child?  A teenager watching the burial of her parents?  There's a difference.

This girl has some emotional baggage.  She's not perfect, and she still suffers from these traumatic events, but I admire her.  If you met her, you would be able to tell that she carries more maturity and wisdom than most adults.