re. . Wane A Pen rai uted How do we grieve? Bex Peterson Editor-in-Chief have this recurring dream that’s been plaguing me since 2013. I'm usually in a café, or a pub—some kind of public meeting place—and I see an old friend of mine. I haven't seen his face since graduation. I rush over, my heart pounding in my chest, and I pull him into a tight hug. “We all thought you were dead,” I tell him. Every time, my throat is incredibly tight when I say this. “I remember your funeral.” It’s usually around this point that I Room 1020 - 700 Royal Ave. Douglas College New Westminster, BC, V3L 5B2 604-525-3542 Bex Peterson Editor-in-Chief M editor@theotherpress.ca James Moore Layout Manager M layout@theotherpress.ca Katie Czenczek News Editor © news@theotherpress.ca Jess Berget Opinions Editor M opinions@theotherpress.ca Greg Waldock Web Editor © webeditor@theotherpress.ca Caroline Ho Assistant Editor M assistant@theotherpress.ca D jo }@ P fo wake up, feeling momentarily relieved that my friend is still alive. And then, slowly, I remember. It will be six years this March since my friend died suddenly; no warning, no previous illness that we knew of, just a heart attack that seemed to strike out of the blue. Two weeks ago, was six years since another friend of mine passed; in February it'll be seven years for someone else. The years of 2012 and 2013 felt cursed to me. I kept losing people, one after another, with no time to recover between each blow. Every time these macabre anniversaries roll around, I can’t help but wonder at how much time has passed. Has it really already been seven years? Six years? Twelve, since I @ theotherpress.ca © editor@theotherpress.ca ¥ © /theotherpress f/douglasotherpress Lauren Kelly Graphics Manager © graphics@theotherpress.ca Sonam Kaloti Arts Editor M arts@theotherpress.ca p |= Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor _ Milifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca > Isabelle Orr Entertainment Editor © humour@theotherpress.ca Jacey Gibb Distribution Manager Meghan Lin Production Assistant @ bd © lost my grandfather? Three, since I lost my grandmother? Individual grief operates on its own calendar, with its own sense of the minutes and hours, the days and the years. No one gets to tell you that you're taking too long to process; no one other than you can decide what time you need to come to terms with the loss. And even then, it’s hardly a matter of choice. It’s been six years, and I still have vivid dreams that my friends are alive. | still wake up with that awful momentary relief. I’ve wanted to punch every person who's trotted out this line to me in my own times of grieving, but it is a terrible fact that loss is a part of life. I don’t want Angela Ho Business Manager Cara Seccafien Illustrator Tania Arora Staff Reporter Naomi Ambrose Staff Writer Roshni Riar Staff Writer Billy Bui Staff Photographer Angela Ho Business Manager Jerrison Oracion Senior Columnists Telka Pesklevits Contributor Cover layout by Lauren Kelly Feature layout by Meghan Lin Horoscope illustrations by Cara Seccafien to use that fact to dismiss the experience; rather, I take it to mean that many of us are grieving at any given time. You won't always see it, you won't always hear it, and you wont always know how deeply someone is hurting. Be kind to each other. There are so many of us wandering around with holes in our hearts; some that are bigger than others. Love doesn’t fix it, but it can help, sometimes, to lessen the burden. Until next issue, Bex Peterson Bex Peterson The Other Press has been Douglas College’s student newspaper since 1976. Since 1978 we have been an autonomous publication, independent of the student union. We are a registered society under the Society Act of British Columbia, governed by an eight-person board of directors appointed by our staff. Our head office is located in the New Westminster campus. The Other Press is published weekly during the fall and winter semesters, and monthly during the summer. We receive our funding from a student levy collected through tutition fees every semester at registration, and from local and national advertising revenue. The Other Press is a member of the Canadian University Press (CUP), a syndicate of student newspapers that includes papers from all across Canada. The Other Press reserves the right to choose what we will publish, and we will not publish material that is hateful, obscene, or condones or promotes illegal activities. Submissions may be edited for clarity and brevity if necessary. All images used are copyright to their respective owners.