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I have long respected Stephen Colbert’s perspective on grief. In earlier interviews, Colbert has shared insightful thoughts on grieving. Here is one example:
“The interesting thing about grief, I think, is that it is its own size. It is not the size of you. It is its own size. And grief comes to you. You know what I mean? I’ve always liked that phrase, ‘He was visited by grief,’ because that’s really what it is. Grief is its own thing. It’s not like it’s in me and I’m going to deal with it. It’s a thing, and you have to be okay with its presence. If you try to ignore it, it will be like a wolf at your door.”
Recently, Colbert’s mother died. He gave a beautiful, poignant tribute to her before his show one evening. Many people have shared the video and commented on its valuable insights. I join that crowd. Please take a few minutes to listen to Colbert’s remarkable summary of love and grief.
One of my favorite quotes from his tribute:
“She knew more than her share of tragedy, losing her brother and her husband and three of her sons. But her love for her family and her faith in God somehow gave her the strength not only to go on but to love life without bitterness and instill in all of us a gratitude for every day we have together. And I know it may sound greedy to want more days with a person who lived so long, but the fact that my mother was 92 does not diminish, it only magnifies, the enormity of the room whose door has now quietly shut.”
I imagine that earlier lessons Colbert learned from his mom will guide him through this time. Colbert said, "What she taught me is that the deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain — it’s that the pain is actually a gift. What’s the option? God doesn’t really give you another choice.”
We grieve because we love.
