While studying late at night for the upcoming exams, Emily almost fell asleep with her textbooks spread on her desk, but stopped her eyes from closing and looked up. Right above her desk, a picture of her maternal grandmother was hung. Emily had always been close to her grandmother, Mary. She was the kind of grandmother who cooked delicious apple pies for her on the weekends and who took care of her when her parents worked. Mary had passed away a few years ago due to a heart attack, when Emily was only 17.
Losing her was more painful than she thought. Emily had never lost someone before and could not yet grasp how losing a family member felt. When it happened, Emily could not eat any kind of solid food for a few months. She could only eat soup and started losing weight at a rapid pace. Although she used to be overweight as a teenager, it could be have been dangerous.
Her parents had been worried and Emily had started seeing a psychiatrist before starting university. With time, she started feeling better. Eating no longer made her feel like she was choking and she enjoyed going to class with the new friends she had made. The young woman closed her laptop and went to bed.
“How did the exam go?” Emily’s friend, Lara, asked.
“It went okay, there were a few questions I didn’t expect so my answers are not as good as I wanted.”
“Well, it’s fine, you can always take it again next time, don’t worry about it.”
The two young women sat down with two other friends, Johanna and Sophia.
“What do you plan to do once you get your master’s degree?” Sophia asked.
“I want to try getting into tourism, I think my language skills will be extremely helpful.” Johanna replied.
“I want to be a translator, translating books is something I always found challenging.”
“And I want to be an English teacher. I have always loved teaching the things I cared about to other people and my internship proved that I can handle teaching to kids.” Emily said.
“So you’ll take the exam to be a teacher this year?”
“I’ll try! I have to find the right time to study for it since I still need to write my thesis and work to get enough money for my driver’s license, but I think I can manage.”
Emily worked as a childminder with a family friend whenever she did not have class and she loved the job. Emily had always been good with children, she had wished for a younger sibling when she was a child but did not have any. At work, even the most stubborn children were nice to her and either went to bed to take a nap when it was time or ate without throwing a tantrum like they did with other people. Emily could not have children of her own, being born without a uterus. That fact seemed cruel to her family and friends who knew about it. Like most people, Emily had thought about having a family when she got older, but when she was 17, she found out she was infertile. At first, Emily was not shaken by the news, since her grandmother passed away not long before, but with time it became hard to accept it and live with it. The young woman had looked into adoption and how it works but she decided to worry about it later and focus on her studies.
At 22, Emily went back home for the Christmas holidays, she could finally spend time with her father, her older sisters. She also spent time with her mother for the occasion. She planned to stay until after Christmas so that she could celebrate the new year with her friends, but she was sick. Emily stayed at her father’s because she did not want her friends to be sick too and her family was already sick anyway. However, on December 31st, some heartbreaking news reached them: Emily’s paternal grandmother had died. Having dealt with the death of their dog and cat in September, the family was left heartbroken. Emily decided to stay longer at home to spend time with her family, especially her father. Her father was a very sensitive person and losing his mother made him fall into depression. Since the new semester was based on the thesis, Emily did not have classes to attend, allowing her to take time for herself and to spend time with her family.
Her grandmother, Josie, had always been there for her and her sisters, even though she lived on the other side of the country. She had been there when their parents divorced. She was the first one who held Emily when she was born. She passed away during her sleep after going through surgery.
After a few weeks, Emily went out with her friends, they talked about their plans, how they had been doing for the past few weeks and how they are doing now with their thesis. They were all worried about Emily, who barely spoke.
“Emily, have you been studying for the exam? The one to be a teacher?”
“No, not really. I haven’t been feeling very well.”
“We understand. We’re here for you.”
“Thank you. I don’t really know what to say, I just don’t feel like doing anything anymore. I’m not sure being a teacher is for me.”
“It was like that for me too when I lost a relative. But you will get better.”
“I know. For now it’s still hard because it hasn’t been that long, but I’m trying to get better. I even sent the introduction and first part of my thesis yesterday. I know it’s not as good as what I did last year but I’m trying. And I have found a new job.”
“Really? What are you going to do now?”
“I went to be a caregiver. I loved working with kids, but I think I would love working with the elder too. I want to do something useful and help them on the daily to have an easier life. I want to be there for the elderly just as I wish someone had been there for my grandmothers, too.”
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
lenat (June 27, 2025). Grief. Mind the Master. Retrieved October 6, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/1484l