Dear Edward
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We all grieve in our own way, in our own time … Theres no formula to healing.
We will come out of this, but none of us will come out unscathed.
Because, friends, grief is fucking wild.
It ebbs and flows in intensity.
It makes you want to stay in bed all day long.
It makes you want to be as busy as possible.
It paralyzes you with indecision.
It takes your impulsivity to another level.
Its different for everyone.
No one will come out of this trauma unscathed, but it will look different for everyone.
In this episode alone, Dee Dee exhibits an entire color wheel of Grief Emotions.
In the scene at the cemetery alone!
Connie Britton is giving a master class in demonstrating the chaos of grief!
She marches across the lawn and flags down an unassuming gardener, demanding to know where the tree went.
And then it becomes quite obvious that this is not about the tree, its about Charles.
He wasnt even supposed to be on that flight, she says.
He slept too late and missed his original one.
And now hes gone.
He was our rock, she cries.
Babes, that wild ride of emotions, thats grief right there.
But Dee Dees roller coaster is nowhere near over.
Dee Dee didnt know about any of it.
She is stunned and angry and might throw up on the table.
Is this poor Brads worst day of work ever?
I cant imagine much worse than shattering a grieving widows world not once but three times.
I hope Brad took a mental-health day afterward.
For Dee Dee, it gets worse.
So Dee Dee musters up all of her courage and calls the condos landline.
A woman answers the phone and confirms that it is Charless house.
Dee Dee hangs up.
And dont you forget it!
But again, grief looks different on everyone.
Dee Dees grief is loud and dramatic and full of icing.
Edwards manifests itself in quieter but just as alarming ways.
I mean, could anyone?
Its no wonder he hallucinates his brother Jordan as if hes still alive.
Jordan seems to arrive whenever Edward is scared or at his most uncomfortable.
He sees him at the crash site, believing them both to have survived.
And Jordan can be there, in the top bunk at night.
The doctor is concerned hell need a feeding tube if this goes on any longer.
She tells him that none of this is fair and that she cant eat, either.
I feel like you know exactly who Lacey is from this one scene.
Anyway, its a grieving woman trying her best and we love that, dealio or no dealio.
The plan goes well at first.
The cart is loaded up with all the chips and cookies and corn dogs a kid could want.
Its when Lacey leaves Edward to go grab something things get weird.
A teenage girl is standing behind Edward in tears.
She calls him by name and tells him shes so sorry for what happened.
It hits him like a truck: Jordan is dead.
Hes been imagining him this entire time.
And Edward collapses to the floor.
It turns out Edward was dehydrated and hes fine now, but Lacey feels like a failure.
Not only is she failing Edward, but shes failing her sister.
Lacey does not come across as someone who handles a lot well.
Im drowning, she tells them.
Nobody knows how to be a mother, she assures her.
Its not long before the entire group is up, embracing her.
The dinner with all the grocery-store goodies goes well.
Its possibly the first moment of levity in that house since Edwards moved in.
This does not mean that Edward is suddenly healed.
He keeps replaying the rock-paper-scissors moment in his head, and he cant sleep.
But Edward needs more than that at the moment he asks Shay if he can sleep on her floor.
Surely it is partly because of the way he whispers like to her when she questions why.
Eventually, she tells him Good night, stupid and finally, Edward can fall asleep.
Postscript
Kojo arrives from Ghana (oof, how wasthatplane ride?)
to be with his niece and eventually bring her back with him.
Becks who brings me to tears every time I see her hasnt spoken since her mothers death.
Kojo is visibly moved.
For Adriana, the death of her grandmother is pushing her to take bigger risks than she wouldve before.
So … Kojo and Adriana falling in love, when??
Punch me right in the gut, why dont you.
