{"id":50,"date":"2016-08-18T09:18:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-18T09:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wisdomwithwhiskers.com.au\/?p=50"},"modified":"2022-09-17T23:29:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-17T23:29:13","slug":"breaking-the-law-for-grief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wisdomwithwhiskers.com.au\/?p=50","title":{"rendered":"Breaking the law … for grief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is only a matter of time before they catch me. They will find me. The Government officials will question me. There night even be police officers in attendance? I will be honest and tell them the truth. Yes, I broke the law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was deliberate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decision was planned, per-meditated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will tell them why I broke the law that Census Night in August 2016, and how I woke up at 3am the next morning to write it all down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will read my declaration, scratch their heads, put the papers in a file and walk away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I am lucky, there will just be a summons. Just a fine. The other option would be a court appearance. Jail time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They want to make an example of me and send me to prison for \u201cknowingly breaking a federal law\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In four years it will be different. I will have changed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By then, I will have found the courage to admit Anna is gone. Dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judging by the tears streaming down my face as I write, Anna is alive, still very much alive \u2013 if only in my heart and mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I am torn between telling the truth on the Census form (and admit Anna is dead) and breaking the law and noting Anna is alive and living in the house … on this Census night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been weeks since I have cried like this. This is coming from my soul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My eyes are burning, the trail of salty tears are already forming a crust on my cheeks. The pounding headache is starting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was what I felt after Anna died. These heavy, energy-draining crying episodes would come seven or eight times a day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ability to speak, to communicate, left me as the tears took control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I filled in the Census Form saying Anna was still alive … and went to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe they will find out about my lie? Maybe they won’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They will find me. The Government officials will question me. There night even be police officers in attendance? I will be honest and tell them the truth. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,52,4,23],"tags":[46,11,22,9,16,41],"class_list":{"0":"post-50","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-fiction","7":"category-life-hacks","8":"category-my-story","9":"category-wisdom-with-whiskers","10":"tag-depression","11":"tag-grief","12":"tag-loss","13":"tag-mental-health","14":"tag-pain","15":"tag-tears"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisdomwithwhiskers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisdomwithwhiskers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisdomwithwhiskers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisdomwithwhiskers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisdomwithwhiskers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisdomwithwhiskers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1401,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisdomwithwhiskers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions\/1401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisdomwithwhiskers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisdomwithwhiskers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisdomwithwhiskers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}