Grief. I know her. I know her far too well.

I met her decades ago, when I was a little girl. I’ve never liked her. I didn’t like her when I was a child, and I don’t like her now.

Still, she continues to show up. Uninvited. Unwanted. Unwelcomed.

She doesn’t seem to care. 

She shows up every couple of years, as if we were having a family reunion. 

I tell her to go away, that she’s not family. I tell her we don’t want to see her anymore and that we did not invite her so she cannot stay.

She still doesn’t care.