Dr. Nancy Moelk explains how the grieving process is innate within us because we are made in God's image and He grieved. How does it help us to know that God grieves? It is easier to give ourselves permission to grieve and to know it is normal. Whether we had good or bad parents, it important to grieve losses associated with them. We were created for perfect love and even the best parents will fall short of it. Each stage of grief takes us one step further in embracing pain and letting go of trying to avoid accepting the loss and its effects.   The last stage of grief is reconciliation and forgiveness. It is possible that a person may need to cycle through all the stages again even after having come to resolution in certain areas. And as we become safer and safer in our relationship with Christ and others, our greif will automatically come forward to be dealt with.