Naomi and Ruth were two widows walking back to Bethlehem with nothing. Grief gets lighter with someone beside you.

Two women with no money and no plan walk a long road together, and the walking together is the whole point. Neither of them can fix the other’s loss. What company does is different: the weight gets carried in the presence of somebody who understands what it weighs. Grief does not shrink, but it stops being yours alone.

If you are the one grieving, let somebody come along, even if they can do nothing useful. If it is somebody else, go and be there without a plan or a speech. Walking beside a person counts as help.