"Don’t worry,” my mom used to say to me, “There’s always plenty more fish in the sea,”
Whenever I was distraught about
A betrayal, rejection, or loss.
Of course that never takes into account
The unique attributes of the fish that was lost
Or the dwindling numbers of fish in the sea.
But she, because of an early hard loss of her own,
Was terrified of emotion, and so
She chose to belittle, not honor, my feelings,
Lest they trigger memories of her own.
Perhaps that’s why so many of us
Deal so poorly when faced with the grief of others:
We’re simply attempting
To protect our own hearts…