Dealing with sadness can be confusing.  What is sadness? Is it even possible to assuage it?
 My grandfather passed away last Thursday, and I miss him already. Ed Hester was a 1955 graduate of Mississippi State University, a Korean War veteran and faithful husband for 59 years.
His children and grandchildren and great-grand children cherished every moment they had with him.
He was and forever will be my granddad.
 As such, I am sad he’s gone, and I’m scared of the future. I’m unsure as to how I am going to handle this loss as time rolls on. I’ve never lost anyone close to me before.
 Despite my fears, I know one thing for sure. Overcoming this sadness can be inextricably linked to me embracing this sadness. I need to sit in it. Feel it. Cherish it.
Because sadness reveals what was important to us. Being sad reveals what mattered in our lives. In doing so, being sad leads us to thankfulness.
In my case, I need to be thankful for the 20 years I got to have with him, the football games, the tractor rides and his many stories.
I need to give thanks for the man that he was and the legacy he left. His life was a testament to what he believed, and his love for me (an urban grandkid who would only break things on his farm) was more than I can ever repay.
If such thankfulness is in order (and I don’t see how it couldn’t be) then to run from the sadness of the situation would be to run from the gratitude and the thanks that are due to the object of my sadness. In this case -  my grandfather.
 Further, if I choose to run from this sadness, what will I encounter? Where will I go?
Knowing me, it would be anger. Anger is easy, and it centers itself on me.
For others turn to apathy, a kind of burying of emotions by actively trying to forget the past.
In either case, nothing changes. The sadness will continue, and the expression of that sadness, in both anger and apathy, will only perpetuate more pain.
But some people really do believe that bravery and strength exist in compartmentalizing your heart from your mind – that you need to block your emotions from your thoughts. I couldn’t disagree more. To cope with sadness is to feel sadness. It’s to allow the sadness to force you to give thanks for what you lost, and to find a deeper, more lasting sense of joy.
I understand that I will never see my granddad again, in this life at least.
But in the few days since his passing, I’ve tasted this new kind of joy. I left the funeral and the cemetery with it.
But as I mentioned before, I am scared of the future. I’m scared I won’t be able to live out these words.
I say all of this because we all go through tough situations.
We all meet sadness at some point. It took me 20 years to find it.
I hope we might be bold enough to recognize the need we have to cherish the loved ones we have now and give thanks for the ones who are waiting for us.