Found 25 results
It is hard to believe that my mother would have turned 90 years old this month. I was thinking about my mom today and had so many great memories of her and here are a few of my favorite. 1. … Continue reading
April in Paris. Chestnuts in blossom. April showers bring May flowers. Since I was a child Easter has always been a special time for me – a time of resurrection and renewal. I enjoyed the straw filled baskets, Easter egg … Continue reading
What if you woke up to discover that your happiness was completely gone? That happened to me one cold November morning. Sid, my husband and soul mate for almost thirty-eight years, had died suddenly in his sleep. I felt like … Continue reading
Have you ever noticed that it’s hard to tell when winter really ends and spring begins? Just when it seems all the snow has melted and that there hasn’t been any falling for awhile, we get hit with more. Sometimes, … Continue reading
Ambiguous loss is loss without closure. There is no body to view or bury, no death certificate, no inkling of what happened to your loved one. Uncertainty and worry become part of your days and seep into your being. Though … Continue reading
My 19-year-old son, Ryan, committed suicide in June of 2002. He was a loving and generous person in life, and in the afterlife, all of those qualities remain. Ryan is a very active spirit. We communicate in various ways, but … Continue reading
Faith is an important asset for those who mourn, and yet for some it is not enough. At a bereavement conference, a father described the loss of his son and admitted that he had lost his faith and did not … Continue reading
Dr. Katherine Shear, M.D., is the Marion E. Kenworthy Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University School of Social Work and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is also Director of the Complicated Grief Treatment Program at the New … Continue reading
RAGE: This is an emotion we may feel when grieving but be reluctant to admit. When someone we love dies, we feel the raw wound of their absence. The raw emotions that cut like a knife. The raw gut wrenching pain. ANGER: … Continue reading
My career as a flight attendant included some intense training every year for “the unlikely event of an emergency.” One of the scenarios flight crews practice over and over is bracing for an emergency landing. Should this extremely rare situation … Continue reading
All of us have it. But we can lose it temporarily. Yet, all of us have the power to find it again too. Confidence is the extra battery pack that fuels our inner spirit. It propels us to greater achievements … Continue reading
I had never heard of ambiguous loss until my daughter, a licensed family therapist, told me about it. The term was coined by Pauline Boss, PhD, of the University of Minnesota. It came from her research and the clinical studies … Continue reading
We often approach grief from a logical perspective. We listen, analyze, validate obvious emotions, and try to arrive at helpful conclusions. However, grief is much more complicated than simply identifying a loss, categorizing the pain, and discovering fresh themes on … Continue reading
There is nothing more important or powerful in our lives than our faith. I have had a wonderful experience about a presence more powerful than ourselves. I have seen the movies, books and specials through out the media world about … Continue reading
Padraig Greene has been a priest for 35 years working in high schools, retreat work, adult education and parish ministry. He has worked in family ministry in both Ireland and in the Oakland, California Diocese. He is active in developing … Continue reading
Growing up I listened to Whitney Houston’s music, pretending I was her as I belted out “I Will Always Love You.” I think I saw the movie ‘The Bodyguard’ a total of ten times, watching it again just after she … Continue reading
When someone we love deeply dies, many of us feel as though we have lost our way and very unsure of where the path is, let alone what path we are on. Many of us planned on stopping and getting … Continue reading
I have been an addictions counselor for 27 years, and have worked in the same place for that entire time. I will be retiring from my full-time job on July 12th of this year. I haven’t officially filed the paperwork … Continue reading
My younger sister and I have resided in the same area most of our lives. We have maintained a close connection despite the fact that we’re frequently in different phases in our lives. We normally speak often and participate in … Continue reading
Recently, it was announced that the American Psychiatric Association is currently revising the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a tool used by clinicians to diagnose patients. Shockingly, they’ve added grief as a treatable disease as part of … Continue reading
Thirteen years ago, I read a letter to an editor urging young widows to go for annual physicals. The timing of the piece reminded me of when I first read about the Heimlich Maneuver in 1974, just days after my … Continue reading
As I draw nearer to retirement from state service, the memories about the colleagues whose association I have valued and the patients who have crossed my path during the past 27 years have increased in frequency. I have also begun … Continue reading
Dean Smith is the founder/director of ‘Live To Forgive. His passion is to help people break free from the burden of inability to forgive. Dean’s inspiring messages about forgiveness and love are based on his testimony of personal breakthrough after forgiving … Continue reading
From the moment you become a parent, there are two questions that become first and foremost in your mind: Where is my child and is he or she okay? Even when you are dealing with an infant that seldom leaves … Continue reading
I wrote this poem for Alice Wisler’s online writing workshop, “Writing the Heartache”. We were to take something that was our child’s and write a poem about it. I chose a hand print of my precious daughter, Nina’. She was two … Continue reading
