I'd never met my friend's mom. But standing next to her open casket, she made a joke, and we burst out laughing in front of a room full of horrified strangers. Thirty minutes later I was a weepy mess again. Both things happened. Neither one canceled the other out — and that's the part about grief nobody warns you about.

"I've got you" is what we say. It's not always what we do. Holding space is a specific practice, not a passing comfort, and most of us were never actually taught how.

Ed had severe osteoporosis. Edna's dementia had taken her ability to speak. Every day after lunch, he crouched down with warm water and a cloth to wash her feet anyway. I was their caregiver, and it taught me more about devotion, and its cost, than anything I'd learned before.

Grief doesn't care that you have a presentation on Thursday or a deadline on Friday. It follows you to work whether you're ready or not, and most of us have never been taught how to navigate loss while still showing up professionally. Learn how to here.

When a colleague dies, the grief that follows is real and deserves genuine space to breathe, yet most workplaces inadvertently silence it with messages to "stay strong" and "keep busy." The cost of unaddressed grief shows up everywhere: lost focus, lower engagement, higher turnover, and employees who are physically present but emotionally gone. But there's a better way. Organizations that respond to loss with open communication, flexibility, meaningful rituals, and ongoing support don't just help their teams heal, they build deeper trust and loyalty that lasts for years. This is an opportunity to show your people that their whole selves are welcome at work, even in the hardest moments.

There's a grief that doesn't wait for a funeral. It starts the moment you notice your parent repeating themselves, less steady on their feet, less sharp than they used to be, and suddenly you're grieving someone who's still here. That's anticipatory grief, and if no one has told you yet, it's real, it's normal, and you're not being dramatic for feeling it.