Loss of a Family Member

Articles

  • Merry Go Round and Round: Rhythms of Grief

    Posted on January 22, 2024 - by Elizabeth Brady

    Merry Go Round My mom made it a priority to take me and my siblings to the Smithsonian to visit the touring exhibits that came through the D.C. museums. I am the eldest of four, and amidst our collective moans and groans over another trek downtown from the suburbs in her diesel station wagon, my mom promised a ride or two on the lone carousel on the National Mall as a treat. I loved the carousel; I remember when it was installed in 1981. We were delighted by what seemed a whimsical addition to the stately mall. A blue and […]

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  • Don’t Shield Your Children from Grief

    Posted on November 19, 2023 - by Beth Marshall

    In our predominantly fun childhood, the one thing kids were never allowed to do was to participate in the funeral-related activities when someone passed away. Grief and sadness were simply not on the agenda. When someone died, my brothers, sisters, and I would keep playing kickball and jumping on the trampoline, while our parents did funeral things. After the service, we rarely talked about the person who had died. Even in the years that followed, we didn’t do much to remember our beloved family members who were now gone. As an adult, I learned quickly that shielding kids from sorrow […]

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  • Why Do I Feel Worse Now Than I Did Right After My Husband Died?

    Posted on October 9, 2023 - by Melinda Richarz Lyons

    The Shock of a Sudden Death Grief counseling was invaluable to me after I lost my husband, Sid. He was only 56 and died very suddenly. There were so many feelings during the grief process that seemed to come out of nowhere. Of course it didn’t make my loss less painful, but just having my feelings validated seemed to help a tiny bit. In our group session one night, our counselor explained the difference between a sudden loss and an anticipated loss. In an anticipated loss, it is as if you are standing on a beach and you see a […]

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  • Guiding a Child Through Parent-Loss: A Mother’s Story

    Posted on June 5, 2023 - by Dr. Carol Leibovich Mankes

    Guiding a Child Through Parent-Loss Losing a parent is a profound and challenging experience, especially for children. The loss of her beloved father forever changed my daughter’s world when she was just 10 years old. The emotional road she has traveled in seven years has been a rollercoaster ride, filled with moments of both strength and vulnerability. In the immediate aftermath of her father’s passing, my daughter was confronted with a whirlwind of emotions. As her mom, I had the daunting task of giving her the sad news. I made a decision, right before his passing, of allowing her to […]

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  • Understanding Compounded Grief and Ways to Cope

    Posted on May 23, 2023 - by Jacqui Coombe

    There are so many things to enjoy about life. Hand in hand with this enjoyment is the fact that there will sometimes be tough periods in life. These periods will see individuals saying goodbye to family and friends, moving cities, leaving jobs or even losing beloved pets.  While everyone will, at some stage of their life, experience grief, this feeling will be processed differently. Some may move through the stages of grief quickly, meanwhile, others seem to flounder.  When dealing with grief, it’s important to note the different types of grief that people can experience, the associated symptoms and of […]

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  • After Mom’s Death, Daughter Struggles With Dad’s Girlfriend

    Posted on May 13, 2023 - by John Pete

    Daughter Struggles with Dad’s Girlfriend Heather asks for advice: In November, it will be two years since my mother died after a prolonged illness. My father started dating a woman this summer. I supported him finding companionship. He and Mom were together for 35 years, so it had been a long time since he was alone. Unfortunately, I have not dealt well with the reality of his girlfriend. He wants to include her in all of our family gatherings and has told me that he expects me to become friends with her. My mom and I were very close before […]

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  • Understanding and Working through Grief

    Posted on April 17, 2023 - by Ilana Estelle

    Understanding and working through grief isn’t without its challenges. Although you may have weeks or months to prepare, knowing you’re going to lose a loved one. It isn’t something you’re always ready for and that’s okay. GRIEF AFFECTS US ALL DIFFERENTLY Grief affects us all differently and there is no timescale for working through grief. Fortunately, many of us will come through grief with a better understanding of how we feel. Initially, we may wander and get lost for a while, and that’s okay too, or we may wait until we’re feeling mentally ready to accept that we need to […]

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  • The Many Losses of COVID: A Survey About Moving Ahead

    Posted on August 20, 2022 - by Bob Baugher

    The Many Losses of COVID As humans, loss is something we all experience. One way to make sense of this is to look at a number of different types of loss. Make a copy of this list of 42 losses that could be related to the Covid pandemic. Then, place an X in the box next to each loss that you have experienced as a result of the pandemic during 2020-2022. Check the Loss Box ☐ Loss of the world as I knew it ☐ Loss of finances ☐ Loss of touch—handshakes, hugs, kisses ☐ Loss of job ☐ Loss […]

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  • Uvalde Murders Trigger Grief

    Posted on June 27, 2022 - by Lo Anne Mayer

    Uvalde Murders Trigger Grief Ever since our daughter died in 2005, I have experienced heartbreak each time I learn of other children who have died.  My own awareness of the depth and breadth of grief links me to each person who has lost a child, whether that child is a policeman, a soldier, or an 8-year-old.  I now know that grief is a wound that takes years to heal. The senseless killing of the children in Ulvade brings out the motherhood of all human beings. These murders trigger grief for so many. We want to cradle the children and hug […]

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  • Helping Children After Mass Tragedies

    Posted on June 20, 2022 - by Bob Baugher

    Children Shocked by Mass Tragedies In 1963, it was the assassination of a president. In 1986, it was the explosion of the Space Shuttle witnessed by millions of children on TV. September 11, 2001, was the terrorist attack. For the past 20 years it has been school shootings, the most recent in Uvalde, Texas.  Each of these shocking events thrusts our children into the face of death in a sudden and graphic way. Imagine that you are a ten-year-old child. Kids your age were killed as they innocently sat in their classroom.  Many questions spring to your young mind: “Am […]

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  • Grieving Children, Teens Have All the Feelings

    Posted on June 13, 2022 - by Greg Adams

    Grieving People Have All the Feelings Sometimes a death impacts a school or community organization, like a church or Boy Scout troop. A child or teacher dies, and I am invited to facilitate a one-time grief support discussion with children or teenagers. It’s a very condensed experience. I start with establishing rapport and gradually (but also quickly) move into talking about death in movies and books, the difference between grief and mourning, and the person who died. We start with the person and their life because while their death and how they died was very important, even more important is the […]

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  • All of Us Grieve After Mass Shootings

    Posted on June 13, 2022 - by Samantha Ruth

    Every single day, I’m seeing news of another mass shooting. It’s not okay. And more than expressing our concern about gun laws, we need to have the conversations about grief. All of us grieve after mass shootings. We are traumatized. But few acknowledge the significance of this grief, let alone address it. So we need to have the conversations. With ourselves, each other, our children. Parents all over the globe want to protect their children. For many, this means shielding them from adult topics. But when is protecting actually harming? Children Mourn a Shooting This is the world we live in. These are […]

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  • Telling the Children that Mom is Going to Die

    Posted on April 29, 2022 - by Stedman Stevens

    Telling the Children My wife was dying, and telling the children was the next step. My wife and I struck out on our journey to prepare, protect, and parent our three sweet teenage daughters. There is no right or wrong way to convey this message. But there may be better or worse ways to help your children transition through one of the most difficult experiences of their young lives. Oddly, we did not realize the enormity of the task we were undertaking at the time, probably due to stress, fatigue, and emotional exhaustion. But we both felt in telling the […]

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  • Begin Grieving With Kindness to Yourself

    Posted on March 31, 2021 - by Claire Willis

    “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” ~ His Holiness the Dalai Lama Offer Yourself Great Kindness No one can say or hear this enough: The weeks, months, and years after a loss that shakes your bones are a time to offer yourself great kindness. It’s the best gift you can give yourself. And as it turns out, it’s the best gift you can give those you love and all living beings. How is this possible? What does it mean to be kind to yourself, to take your own side, to befriend yourself? Think about how you would reach […]

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  • Grief in the workplace

    Working Remotely With Grief

    Posted on March 16, 2021 - by R. Glenn Kelly

    Angelica shared how she sat at the kitchen table with trembling hands as she gripped her laptop’s mouse. She was somewhat hesitant about clicking the “Join Meeting” button on her screen. The day before, however, she assured her HR Manager that she was ready to come back. They both agreed it was time. In one way, she was grateful for not having to confront her teammates in person. She was sure she was not ready for that. But was she actually ready for what she about to do? Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, she clicked the button. As the virtual […]

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  • Griefspotting Losses For a Post-COVID Era

    Posted on September 25, 2020 - by Gloria Horsley

    As we have gone from days to weeks to months dealing with the Covid epidemic, I have become increasingly concerned that our unresolved issues around grief and loss are mounting.  It occurs to me that it is not too early to address some of the issues that will plague us in the future by identifying them and intervening where we can in preparation for a postcovid world. I like to call this intervention Griefspotting. What, you may ask, is Griefspotting? Doesn’t it have something to do with Trainspotting and Heroin tracks?  Not in my world. When I was a kid, […]

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  • Embracing the Highs and Lows

    Posted on September 9, 2020 - by Bunny Bennett

    In facilitating small groups with sometimes noncommunicative teens, my wise colleague suggested beginning the session by asking each participant to share a high and a low.  A high could include something going well, an accomplishment, an anticipated upcoming event, or anything positive, while a low could be something worrisome, circumstances that didn’t work out as planned, a disappointment, a traumatic event, etc. This activity works every single time like magic to get teens to open up!  Sometimes, just discussing highs and lows could take a whole session and the participants always verbalized feeling better, supported, and connected, even when no […]

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Open to Hope Radio

Open to Hope TV

  • Episode 185: Surviving Terrorism, Mass Violence, and Traumatic Loss

    Posted on September 10, 2021 - by admin

    Suffered a traumatic loss? Join Dr. Heidi Horsley and her guests Maureen Basnicki, Heather Dearman and Sallie Lynch founding members of the Survivors of Tragedy Outreach Program (STOP) an initiative created by Tuesday’s Children. Get a message of hope and learn how peer connections and support can be key components to your recovery.

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  • Episode 184: Parent Loss and Childhood Trauma

    Posted on September 7, 2021 - by admin

    You are stronger than you think you are!  Join Dr. Heidi Horsley and her guests to explore childhood trauma, Inner strength, and the strength of community.  Guests include Marie Clyne and Robert Pycior, who lost a mother and father in the 9/ll terrorist attacks and Kathy Murphy, Program Director of Tuesday’s Children.

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