Sally Dalzel Writes to Her Late Husband

Sally Dalzel on Journeys Through Grief

I missed having him to talk to. I did not know what to do with the thoughts and feelings which had nowhere to go, and so, I started to write to him – a series of letters – letters which enabled me to articulate the feelings only he would have understood. I knew as I was writing them that it was a fantasy, a temporary removal from reality, on the one hand an acknowledgement he was no longer there, and on the other being able to share with his memory all that he had meant to me. These intensely personal letters, written without censorship were a way of slowly letting him go, although at the time I started to write them, it felt more like a way of holding on to him. Written over a period of nine months they chronicle my journey from loss to unwilling acceptance.

Because You Were There