Most people know about the stages of grief, but don't really take them seriously. They're very, very important.

If people don't get over the denial phase of grieving, they may never actually find peace. Seeing the body, seeing the casket close, seeing it go into the ground, seeing dirt thrown on it . . . these are very important for many people to be able to move through the grieving process.

What really makes my blood boil is when selfish third parties take someone who is going through the grieving process and artificially keep them in an early stage of grief. Particularly anger. When high-profile tragedy happens, there is no shortage of people who want to parlay the anger of the victims for their own purposes.

"Your husband died in a fire? Take that anger and use it to petition lawmakers to buy my company's over-priced fire-retardant spray that never would have even saved your husband's life in the first place." "Your child was shot to death? Use that sadness and anger to demand Congress pass laws banning semi-automatic rifles which have nothing to do with your child's death. Just stay angry. Don't ever let that anger go."

It's fucked up. Interfering with recovery from tragedy is so unfathomably disgusting.