Behind the Blog

"It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again." 

John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez

I feel as if I am in the tide pool and Cooper is among the stars. The aquarium was one of our favorite places to take Cooper. The soothing sounds of water and bubbles, the soft lighting and colorful fish. I liked to hang out in the interactive children's section where, ironically, you can also find the space dedicated to tide pools. Hard to believe there is so much beauty in that which sustains such perpetual conditions, adapting and changing with the tide. They are their own little supportive communities, living separate from the ocean, yet still connected to the ocean. Over time, maybe erosion will allow the rock to reform and the tide pool will perhaps become more intwined with the ocean once again.

The parallels drawn from tide pool and living with grief are captivating, and metaphorically unending. We seek out connections and understanding, but some things are just hard to convey without a shared experience. A tide pool is the closest I can come to an explanation of our life with Cooper, a somewhat relatable connection everyone can picture as we wade through the unimaginable. By definition Tide pools are habitats of uniquely adaptable animals. "Life is tough for plants and animals that live in tide pools. Here portions of the shoreline are regularly covered and uncovered by the advance and retreat of the tides. In order to survive, tide pool life forms must avoid being washed away by the tidal waves, keep from drying out in the sunlight of low tide, and avoid being eaten," (http://42explore.com/tidepool.htm). "Inhabitants must be able to cope with a constantly changing environment — fluctuations in water temperature, salinity, and oxygen content. Huge waves, strong currents, exposure to midday sun and predators are only a few of the hazards that tide pools' animals must endure to survive," (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tide_pool).




I am certainly not a marine biologist, but as I understand it most organisims live in the low and mid-level tide pools. There are, however; some who exist in high-level tide pools as well as splash zones. Sounds about right doesn't it, most of us in the middle and some of us at either extreme. An echo of different types of grief? Perhaps an illustration of where we are in our grief? I'm not sure yet, but I'm working on it.