CIRU MURIUKI ON DEALING WITH GRIEF AFTER LOSING FATHER & FIANCÉ 

Media personality Ciru Muriuki has opened up about her journey with grief, marking five years since the sudden loss of her father and the passing of fiancé Charles Ouda  last year.

She described losing her father in 2020 after he contracted COVID-19, noting that while she had lost grandparents before, this was her first true encounter with deep grief. “My dad and I were very close. I’m the classic daddy’s girl… he was my best friend,” she shared. “My dad was my person.”

Muriuki addressed the five stages of grief denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance revealing they do not occur in a linear way. “Grief taught me that you could feel all those feelings in the span of a minute,” she explained. “There’s nothing linear about grief. You can go from anger back to denial. One second you feel like you’re accepting it, the next, you’re depressed.”

A she also said that the second year of grief can be more challenging than the first. “The first year you are in survival mode… you still have a lot of social support,” Muriuki noted. “By the second year, people have gone back pretty much to their lives, the shock has worn off, and you’re left feeling the full force of all those emotions.”

She talked about the importance of seeking support, whether through therapy, prayer, or other means, stating firmly, “If you’re not doing none of that, it will take you out.” Muriuki credits grief for her personal growth. “I have learned how to be more patient… Grief has also taught me so much compassion.

I have so much more empathy for people because I have encountered such deep personal pain. I would not wish grief on my worst enemy, but I will say that the person that has emerged on the other side is a far better person than I ever was.”