A bereaved father, writing some years after the deaths of his three sons:
In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all...
It comes with bitterest agony...
Perfect relief is not possible, except with time.
You cannot now realize that you will ever feel better...
And yet this is a mistake.
You are sure to be happy again.
To know this, which is certainly true,
Will make you become less miserable now.
I have experienced enough to know what I say."
Abraham Lincoln, collected in Giving Sorrow Words by Candy Lightner and Nancy Hathaway.