Dorothy: I’m starting this topic for anyone on here who wants to write about their feelings about bereavement. Don’t hold back!

Starting point. We’re on here because we’re trans or whatever label you want to use, right? We can talk on here about pretty much everything, agreed? And we think it’s pretty good really, don’t we. We feel better for it

Okay, Well I want to apply this same ‘open mic’ process to bereavement, grief, loss and all that. Yes, it’s personal. My wife has advanced cancer and my best friend is bipolar, and either of them could check out any time. And I need to deal with it. Which for me means talking about it with sympathetic people. And I’m sure I’m not alone. Folk, we love die So, here’s this.

Write anything you want to. Nothing is unsayable. We don’t do this stuff properly in the West, we bottle it up, and that’s bad. So, let’s change that.

Please write about how you’re feeling about someone close to you who’ve died, and how hard it is, write about how someone close to you is ill, physically or mentally, and the anxiety that builds up when you don’t see or hear from them, and the feelings of joy when you do. Write anything!

Talk about you feel about the way bereavement is dealt with in the UK or wherever else you are. Talk about how other people around you feel awkward talking about “your loss.” Talk about how angry those cliche words “sorry for your loss” make you feel. Write about how you cry, or you have cried, about famous people who’ve meant a lot to you, and how you still enjoy their work and the feelings it stirs.

Talk about the things that are getting you through bereavement or have got you through it, whether it’s music, poetry, keeping a journal, alcohol, religious faith, trains, trans, crossdressing – whatever!