When your loved one dies, you may feel as though all joy has died. The part of you that brimmed with love and joy for the one lost, for life, and for the future seems for a while withered, if not entirely dead. Grief is the season when your branch is dormant. Your spirit is not dead, only paused for the moment until life in its fullness is restored. Even now in unexpected pinhole moments joy dances on the other side of grief like fresh buds on the vine. Joy is the ripe, luscious fruit of grief.