Ever since myself and the rest of the autism/neurodiversity community learned of the passing of fellow advocate David Sharif earlier this week, we have all been dealing with his death in a variety of ways. Some of us cried, others went silent, others shared their feelings on social media.
The fact is that we are dealing with pain and grief that is almost unimaginable. David was more than just a community member, he was a member of our family and as I said in my previous blog, David was like a brother to me in the community.
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As I write this blog, I can say that I am angry with the higher power for allowing David to pass away in this manner. I am not Jewish like David was, but I am a Catholic and as a Catholic, I believe in the life eternal. But that doesn’t mean that I can be angry with the higher power. Since David died, I often express my anger with God as a neurodiverse individual asking how he could do such a thing? David was a young man, with the entire world in his pocket.
Yes, I get the fact that maybe God had better plans for David, but still it doesn’t make things any easier. The autism/neurodiversity and disability communities make up of people that come from different backgrounds and religions, but this is our collective grief and we will grieve as a community.
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All I am saying is that this isn’t going to be ending in a week. When someone dies, the healing process can last a variety of ways. For some, it ends right away, for some, it never ends. David was a friend and colleague to all of us and the void he left behind may never go away, especially for those who knew him best.
I know it will take time for me to heal from this unimaginable event and part of me may never recover. Part of me still hasn’t recovered from the loss of my grandparents amongst others, but that’s okay, because that is how some of us are.
All we can do now is stick together and remember the good times we had with one of our own in the community.
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Catch you all later!!
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