02/23/2026
The turn is real. Here’s something we don’t talk about much when it comes to grief.
It’s not the early days when everything hurts and nothing makes sense.
It’s not the time when you’re just trying to survive the weight of the loss.
What I’m talking about is... ‘The Turn’.
It’s the quiet shift that happens when grief is no longer the only thing shaping your days.
For a long time, grief requires us to look inward.
We replay what happened.
We feel the pain, the loneliness, the shock.
We sit with the ache because we have no other choice.
That inward focus is necessary.
It’s part of honoring the loss.
But at some point,
often without even realizing it,
we arrive somewhere new.
The pain hasn’t disappeared.
The love hasn’t faded.
But we’re no longer trapped in helplessness and hopelessness every single day.
We begin to imagine life again.
Not the life we had.
Not the future we planned.
But a future.
That’s ‘The Turn’.
It doesn’t mean grief is over.
It means grief is no longer in control.
‘The Turn’ doesn’t erase your loss.
It creates space for life to exist alongside it.
And sometimes…that’s enough for today.
Gary Stugis
Author: ‘SURVIVING GRIEF – 365 Days A Year’
