We all deal with emotional situations differently. When the emotional situation is sad, it is definitely when we react differently. Sometimes we shut down and just want to be left alone, and sometimes we need to surround ourselves with people we love.

Most of us have lost a family member of some sort, for instance, a grandparent. We all know that losing that person was not easy. So can you imagine losing a best friend? Not everyone has had to experience a loss like that, but more people than we realize have been there.

When I was a sophomore in high school I lost a really great friend. She was the kind of person who was always willing to talk about anything. I got the news while I was at school. My teacher patted the chair and told me to sit down. I knew it had to be something bad and I told her no. She finally got me to sit in the chair and she told me that my friend had passed away. I just looked at her and shook my head, because it wasn’t possible that this was real. So she told me again, “she’s gone.” It was then that I broke down. My teacher made me call my mom and tell her to come get me, but my mom couldn’t understand me. I had to repeat myself several times before she finally caught what I was trying to tell her. That afternoon we went to my friend's house to see her family. My mom said that was the place we needed to be. The weeks following that day were very hard. I completely shut down and questioned everything about life.

I don’t tell this story to many people, because it hurts just thinking about it. I have accepted the loss and pulled myself together since then. The point I’m trying to make is that we may not grieve the same way someone else does, but we all know the same loss. I had a friend text me the other day and ask how I dealt with losing a friend because she had just recently lost one. I told her how I dealt with it and how it wasn’t easy and still isn’t easy to this day. Letting her know that I was there for her to talk to is all I could really do. Everyone has to come to terms of their loss in their own way, it’s what makes us all different, how we handle the situation. If you ever come to a day in your life where you lose a friend, just know that you are not alone and it’s okay to shut down while you grieve. Just make sure that you don’t stop living your life.