Meghan McCain responds to Twitter user who tried to shame her for publicly grieving her father on Christmas

There’s no wrong way to grieve, but according to one Twitter troll, it’s something that should be done in private.

Meghan McCain, who has been outspoken about mourning the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., shared a tribute to her father on Twitter on Christmas Eve.

For many users, it served as a reminder that we’re not so different. “We rarely see [eye to eye] on things. However, this is beautiful,” one person shared, “I lost my Dad not too long ago and I still send him well wishes and happy birthdays.”

Meghan McCain responded to a person telling her to grieve in private on Twitter. (Photo by Heidi Gutman/ABC via Getty Images)
Meghan McCain responded to a person telling her to grieve in private on Twitter. (Photo by Heidi Gutman/ABC via Getty Images)

Another Twitter user who lost her mother to cancer three years ago wrote, “Thank you for sharing, understand, and letting the world know that we are not alone.”

One person, however, had the hot take that grieving should be done behind closed doors.

The ignorant suggestion didn’t faze McCain, but she did use it as a moment to acknowledge her plans in 2019 — to “destigmatize talking about grief, death and cancer.”

“My father shared his life in public, I share it in death,” she wrote. “To all of you out there missing a loved one tonight — you are not alone.”

McCain has often shared tributes to her father on social media, recently on Thanksgiving, which was the senator’s favorite holiday. “Happy Thanksgiving Dad, wherever you are. I miss you terribly,” she wrote at the time.

Just before the holiday, McCain shared, “I want to tell you about everything and get your opinion on everything — just like we used to do. I don’t know how you go from talking to someone seven times a day to never. Thank you for always, always being on my team and for being my best friend. I love you forever.”

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84 days without you. You used to get up early in the morning and go get us all Starbucks in town in the Cottonwood Safeway and then come home and make eggs and bacon. You always had a giant venti cappuccino. We would eat on the porch and talk about life and politics while you read the newspaper and watched out for the hawks to fly by. I want to tell you about everything and get your opinion on everything – just like we used to do. I don’t know how you go from talking to someone seven times a day to never. It is still so indescribably surreal to go through the motions of life without sharing all of it with you – like some awful parallel universe I fell into. The pain of missing you and the grief that comes with it continues to be sharp and primal. Some waves are more intense than others but they come every day relentlessly. Stay with me. Stay with me. Stay with me. I fight on because that is what you told me I had to do and demanded of me. I know you made me so tough and strong with the intensity that only you could have purposefully – and for that I am the most grateful. You raised me “Don’t let the bastards grind you down” you always said. Thank you for always, always being on my team and for being my best friend. I love you forever. To anyone else in my place or those who are not – I wish we wouldn’t put time limits or rules on grief, we all do it differently in different ways. I shared my father on social media while he was here (and he loved it) and I choose to continue sharing him now that he is not. There’s always the unfollow button if recognizing the impact of death and loss makes anyone uncomfortable. ??

A post shared by Meghan McCain (@meghanmccain) on Nov 18, 2018 at 2:53pm PST

This Dec. 25 was McCain’s first Christmas without her father, who passed away on Aug. 25, 2018, after battling glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

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