The following is a link to a video on YouTube of comedian Anthony Griffith doing a “story telling” session called “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The story is his and its about what he went through with the loss of his daughter. Click Here to watch this powerful video.
Please stop back and share your thoughts on this video. I think most of you will be able to relate. He has captured on stage what I captured in my Grieving Dads: To the Brink and Back book.
I know it freaks a lot of people out who watch this video because of the raw emotion, but he is just being human. He feels pain, so why shouldn’t he or any of us be able to let it out. I applaud him for having the courage to do this on stage.
Wow!! Thanks for letting us know about this video, Kelly. I re-posted it on my FB page and made the comment that although the circumstances of our losses are different, the emotions aren’t. His emotions are my emotions, even to this day, almost two years later.
I just watched the video and all the many emotions came back that I experienced when my son Daniel died just over 34 months ago. I cried at my desk in my office and continue to shed tears as I’m writing this but I don’t care of anyone sees me after watching this video. Those first few feelings of shock, anger, and unbelievability of the moment you hear those words from the doctor all came flooding back to me. I too would trade anything I’ve every gotten since the day he died for one more day with Daniel. I don’t talk as much about him to other people as I did at first but I still think about him every day. One month after he died, my daughter gave birth to a baby boy. I asked her in my grief to name him after Daniel but later told her to name him any name she wanted so she called him Davin Daniel and that feels good. I know that Daniel would have loved and enjoyed being an uncle to Davin.
Even though I can still remember the feeling of wanting to jump into the grave as we put his coffin down, I also now know the feeling that life for others still continues and I strive to find meaning in my existence here. Some days are better than others and it’s reading this site and finding other men going through what I went through that gives me the strength to be who I am now-a grieving dad who continues on in spite of the pain.
Thanks Kelly for posting this video and also to Anthony for telling his story so forcefully.
Dan
Thanks for posting this up on the blog.
Thank you, Anthony, for having the courage to do that on stage, in front of who knows how many people.
Mason has been gone for almost 6 months now.
I wish I could express myself like that, but I still keep it all bottled up inside. I feel like I am just full of anger, but there’s no where for it to go.