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Her words are powerful.
By Olivia Jakiel — Written on Nov 25, 2020
Meghan Markle is sharing her grief with the world.
The Duchess of Sussex penned a powerful, heart-wrenching essay about the miscarriage she suffered in July of this year.
She titled the essay “The Losses We Share,” and in it, she discusses the unbearable tragedy that so many women and their partners suffer through, and how one simple question can help to begin the healing process.
Meghan Markle’s miscarriage: everything she said in her powerful essay:
Meghan Markle began her essay by describing what was a typical July morning: make breakfast, feed the dog, clean up a little before baby Archie wakes up.
As she was changing Archie’s diaper, she said that she felt a sharp pain in her side that brought her to the ground — while she was still holding her firstborn.
She described humming a lullaby “to keep us both calm,” although she knew something was terribly wrong.
“I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second,” she wrote.
Markle then touched on a simple question a journalist once asked her: “Are you okay?”
As Meghan laid in her hospital bed, clutching Prince Harry’s hand and wondering how they would recover from their tragic loss, she remembered a moment she shared with a journalist while finishing up her and Harry’s South Africa tour in 2019.
“Are you okay?” the journalist asked her.
She responded honestly to the question, and realized the healing potential of those three words as she was lying in a hospital bed months later.
“Sitting in a hospital bed, watching my husband’s heart break as he tried to hold the shattered pieces of mine, I realized that the only way to begin to heal is to first ask, ‘Are you OK?’
Those three words have helped Meghan Markle and Prince Harry through these unprecedented times.
Not only did Meghan share her incredibly personal tragedy with the world, she also shared her thoughts, fears, and concerns about the future of this country, and how the same simple question of “Are you okay?” can help people everywhere struggling this holiday season:
“So this Thanksgiving, as we plan for a holiday unlike any before — many of us separated from our loved ones, alone, sick, scared, divided and perhaps struggling to find something, anything, to be grateful for — let us commit to asking others, ‘Are you OK?’
As much as we may disagree, as physically distanced as we may be, the truth is that we are more connected than ever because of all we have individually and collectively endured this year.
We are adjusting to a new normal where faces are concealed by masks, but it’s forcing us to look into one another’s eyes — sometimes filled with warmth, other times with tears. For the first time, in a long time, as human beings, we are really seeing one another.
Are we OK?
We will be.”
Our deepest condolences go out to Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, and everyone else who is carrying grief with them this holiday season. You are not alone, and you will be okay.
Olivia Jakiel is an editor and writer who covers celebrity and entertainment news. Follow her on Instagram and keep up with her zingers on Twitter.