Scotch Tape v. Grief

Scotch tape is no match for grief.

“Do You Have Some Scotch Tape?”

An elderly lady sat next to me on the plane. She had accidentally ripped the front cover of the travel magazine she was reading.

“Do you have some Scotch tape?” she asked the flight attendant and pointed to the magazine. “I can fix it.”

The attendant looked at her oddly and was puzzled.

“We can bring you a new one.” she said and disappeared down the aisle to find another magazine.

“I just wanted to fix the old one.” the woman shrugged, turning to me; I just smiled.

They brought her a new magazine all shiny and new, but she kept on reading the old one.

It occurred to me that we all need some Scotch tape in our lives once in a while; for example, during grief we often have tears.  But so often, rather than experiencing our feelings, we want to cover up what’s going on inside and put on a glossy new cover.

Are you using the Scotch tape method of grief? What are you covering up inside that needs to be explored?

Written by Rick Bergh, Bereavement Educator

Share this post:

Leave a comment