These are ‘The Laws of Thy Grief, Unwritten and Varied They Be…’

So, this piece is not based on any of the traditional published works about grief, loss, or grieving.

Instead, it is taken from a poem, written by Rear Admiral Ronald Arthur Hopwood, CB, Royal Navy (7 December 1868–28 December 1949) and first published in the British Army and Navy Gazette on 23 July, 1898. Well known throughout the U.S. Navy, it has regularly appeared in the United States Naval Academy’s Yearbook — “Reef Points”:

Now these are the laws of the Navy;