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This article is part of\u00a0<\/i>Upstream,<\/i><\/a>\u00a0The Daily Wire\u2019s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories \u2014 from our featured writers to you.<\/i><\/p>\n ***<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cWelcome to \u2018TODAY\u2019 \u2026 it is good to be home,\u201d <\/span>Savannah Guthrie<\/span><\/a> said through a camera-ready smile at NBC\u2019s <\/span>Studio 1A<\/span><\/a> in Rockefeller Center. Wearing a yellow floral dress as sunny as the roses on set, she made her much-anticipated return to the anchor desk on Monday after a <\/span>two-month<\/span><\/a> hiatus as the search for her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, continues. \u201cHere we go, ready or not, let\u2019s do the news,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n As the famous face of the cause c\u00e9l\u00e8bre, Savannah has endured forensic scrutiny over her own behavior following her mother\u2019s disappearance on <\/span>February 1<\/span><\/a>. Body language experts dissected her <\/span>crossed arms<\/span><\/a> while holding her siblings\u2019 hands. Legal analysts drilled down on her measured pleas to alleged kidnappers. And podcasters noted her drab, reworn clothing and puffy, makeup-free face.<\/span><\/p>\n But Savannah\u2019s latest enterprise \u2014 simply returning to the network where she\u2019s worked for more than <\/span>14 years<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u2014 stripped her essence to the bone, raising one question about humanity\u2019s greatest heartbreak. Is it ever \u201ctoo soon\u201d to move on?<\/span><\/p>\n Moments after her reintroduction, <\/span>Savannah was in tears<\/span><\/a>, walking arm-in-arm with Jenna Bush Hager to greet the audience outside. Holding hands to hearts and biting quivering lips, excited tourists donned yellow remembrance ribbons and held up images of Savannah and Nancy from better days. Homemade T-shirts read \u201cWelcome Home Savannah,\u201d while other signs gave shout-outs to family members watching from home. The bustling chaos put an odd frame around Savannah\u2019s return.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s unfair to compare <\/span>Savannah<\/span><\/a> choking up while saying, \u201cI\u2019ve received so many letters, so much kindness\u201d to the whooping girls with the \u201cVISITING FROM VIRGINIA BEACH\u201d poster. And why should these carefree fans be forced to empathize with someone else\u2019s walk through the valley of the shadow of death? They might be going to the <\/span>Jellycat Diner at FAO Schwarz<\/span><\/a> after this, not forming a search party to look for Nancy Guthrie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Like anyone grieving a parent or child, Savannah seems to have narrowly avoided total consumption. Just a day before her return to the morning show, she participated in an Easter Sunday message for her church, <\/span>Good Shepherd New York<\/span><\/a>. Confirming God\u2019s promise of \u201ca new life that never ends in death,\u201d she added a boldfaced footnote when she said, \u201cThere are moments when that promise seems irretrievably far away. When life itself seems far harder than death.\u201d Admitting \u201cutter abandonment\u201d as well as a \u201cdeep disappointment with God,\u201d she wondered aloud if Jesus had ever felt the sort of pain she was feeling. He knew his exact destiny; he had all the answers.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGod does not ask us to be stoics with standards of pain, with zen-like remove or shallow sloganeering about the hard battles God gives to his toughest soldiers,\u201d she said. Noting the darkness of the three days between Jesus\u2019 death and the empty tomb, she added, \u201cAnd so it went for me, this portal opening, as I stared at yet another incongruently luminous desert sunset amidst my spirit\u2019s utter darkness.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Once she broke the ice on \u201cTODAY,\u201d Savannah cracked jokes with an expert guest about <\/span>perimenopause<\/span><\/a>, shared the couch for news about a \u201c<\/span>Spaceballs<\/span><\/a>\u201d sequel, and checked in on the status of the <\/span>Artemis moon mission<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve experienced grief, you\u2019re familiar with how disorienting it can make news segments on, say, <\/span>baby eagles<\/span><\/a> feel. Competitors praised Savannah for being \u201c<\/span>incredibly resilient<\/span><\/a>,\u201d while the New York Times propped her up for \u201c<\/span>learning to live with not knowing<\/span><\/a>.\u201d These types of phrases fold into a neat little envelope. Return to sender.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Fans<\/span><\/a> who saw themselves in the news anchor posted, \u201cHer job is to be bubbly and joyful on TV \u2014 I can\u2019t imagine how hard it will be to put on that face every morning.\u201d Another commented, \u201cGoing back to work is going to be hard whenever she does it so might as well do it now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Looking ahead, someone else<\/span><\/a> wrote, \u201cI can\u2019t imagine reporting on daily stories of other prominent murders, kidnappings, losses of life, and tragedies or any story involving families without completely losing it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jewish tradition<\/span><\/a> offers a merciful guideline for reintroducing the obligations of daily life over the course of a year following the passing of a loved one. Several other religions hold space for the soul\u2019s transition to the afterlife (and the most intense period of mourning for the living) over the span of <\/span>40 days<\/span><\/a>. Modern psychology typically suggests that a healthy grieving experience lasts anywhere from <\/span>six months to two years<\/span><\/a>. Give or take a few lifetimes.<\/span><\/p>\n Almost immediately after <\/span>Charlie Kirk<\/span><\/a> was killed in cold blood last year, his wife, the new Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk, was smeared for \u201c<\/span>not grieving correctly<\/span><\/a>,\u201d with the wildest <\/span>conspiracies<\/span><\/a> also suggesting she was somehow to blame for Charlie\u2019s death. \u201cI am getting so much noise from everyone,\u201d <\/span>Erika recalled<\/span><\/a>. \u201cYou get people analyzing everything about you. They think they know everything about you. They know nothing about you. They see you on TV, they think, \u2018Oh, she\u2019s this, she\u2019s that.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy silence does not mean that I am complacent,\u201d she told <\/span>Fox News<\/span><\/a>. \u201cWe are all grieving in our own way \u2026 trying to find the answer to something that happened that was so evil.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We can\u2019t help but start a countdown on a grief timeline. But our timing for each other is never right.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n