CYG Day 12: Lemons + Lemonade

As an English teacher, I hate cliche. As a bereaved mother, I hate trite phrases spoken in place of something that holds actual meaning.

"It's God's plan."
"Everything happens for a reason."
"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."

I hate them because you can't fix the hurt of a major life-changing event with some tired cliche. Everything about the lemons to lemonade cliche makes me cringe. The comparison of Ryan's death to a bright yellow citrus fruit especially. 

Maybe the only thing that makes sense in the whole horrible phrase is that lemonade, no matter how much sugar you put into it, will always be a little bit tart. A little bit bitter. Lemonade is bittersweet.

And bittersweet is the perfect way to describe anything "good" that has come since losing Ryan. Because even though I know goodness has happened, it's happened because he's not here in our arms. That just doesn't seem like a fair trade.