How could driving a truck be a form of “mourning”?

Many times “grief” and “mourning” are terms which are used interchangeably, but they represent very different things. As defined by Alan Wolfelt, PhD in his “Understanding Your Grief” book:

• “Grief is the constellation of internal thoughts and feelings we have when someone we love dies. Think of grief as the container. It holds all of your thoughts, feelings, and images of your experience when you are bereaved. In other words, grief is the internal meaning given to the experience of loss.
• Mourning is when you take the grief you have on the inside and express it outside of yourself. Another way of defining is ‘grief gone public’ or ‘the outward expression of grief.’ Talking about the person who died, crying, expressing your thoughts and feelings through art or music, and celebrating special anniversary dates that held meaning for the person who died are just a few examples of mourning.” (p.22)

The song below is entitled “I Drive Your Truck” and is sung by country music artist Lee Brice. Each time I’ve heard it, I have just had to smile. The song provides two examples of mourning: (1) writing songs about what one feels; (2) doing something a loved one would have done (i.e., drive a particular truck). As time goes on, I will post more examples of songs from different genres which provide examples of mourning. If you have any song suggestions, please e-mail them to me (Kim) at stjosephnober@yahoo.com. Thanks, in advance, for any suggestions.