Christopher Wilson

About

There is a moment early in the work that tells me we will be able to do this together. Someone reaches for the tissue box, then pulls their hand back and insists they are fine, and I slide the box a little closer without saying a word. Most of what I do is make it safe to stop performing okay. People who are grieving get very good at reassuring everyone else, and they arrive here exhausted from the effort. We slow down. We say the name of the person who died as often as you want to. We let the contradictory feelings, the sorrow and the anger and the odd flashes of relief, sit in the room together without ranking them. Before this I earned my living in an entirely different line of work, so I know what it is to begin again at something that matters more. My manner is calm on purpose, because you have already had enough turbulence. If you want an unhurried hour where nothing about your loss is too small or too strange to mention, I would be honored to sit with you.