It is that time of year when we should be experiencing the joy of the season - exchanging gifts, singing carols, watching children in school pageants.
But it doesn't always work out that way. This could be the time of year when we think about loved ones who have left us - and we experience a sense of grief.
"Grief is what happens when we experience a loss, when lose something or somebody that's important to us,” said Dave Rasmussen, Castle Medical Center Chaplain.
There is no one answer to handling grief and there is no time period defining how long grief will last.
"Grief lasts different times for different people. Part of it depends on how much you invest in dealing with it. And part of it depends on the circumstances, so there's not a set time,” said Rasmussen.
Sooner or later, we will all know someone who is going through loss, through grief. How do we recognize the signs?
"Being distracted. Feeling sad is one of the most obvious ones. But a lot of people, they get distracted and they can't focus, they can't focus, they can't think. They get irritable, they can get melancholy, they can get depressed,” said Rasmussen.
The other important thing to remember - not everyone deals with grief or loss in the same way. Let's suppose you meet your brother at your father's funeral.
"And they're laughing and someone else is in the middle of tears and they get angry at the person who is laughing because they think they're being disrespectful, but both of them are honoring that memory and that person in their grief,” said Rasmussen.
Experiencing grief can be a lonely feeling. But the chaplain says, it doesn't have to be.
"Find a person that it's safe to talk to. Or if you can't find a person that's safe to talk to, one of the things that helps some people is to get a little tape recorder and just talk and put it out into actual words rather than keeping it all pent up inside,” he said.
