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Grief as a Backpack

Posted on May 27, 2014 - by Angela Miller

People seem to think the ache of missing our children would become more bearable over time. It doesn’t. In fact, some of my days now are more painful as the years go on, because I’m further and further since I last held my son safely in my arms. You’d think after all this time I’d be less caught off guard when I think of my son and I suddenly cannot breathe. I’m not. It doesn’t get easier to choke on air. It doesn’t get easier to live without a huge piece of your heart. Over time I think we learn […]

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The Upside of Sadness in Our Grief Journeys

Posted on May 19, 2014 - by David Roberts

Entitled No More During the last few days of my existence, I have experienced more sadness than usual. Considering that I am a parent whose child died  over 11 years ago, I could justify my sadness as something that I was entitled to because of my daughter Jeannine’s death. However, entitlement hasn’t been a part of my vocabulary for a long time. I have learned to express gratitude for the blessings in my life, as opposed to regret over what I don’t have or what I feel that I am entitled to have. Plus I have found my peace with […]

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Shared Hope: A Source of Comfort and Energy

Posted on May 19, 2014 - by Harriet Hodgson

For six months, my husband has been hospitalized, recovering from a dissected aorta and a deep surgical wound. His scar is closing and he will need ongoing physical therapy for his paralyzed legs. Many patients would be discouraged by these health challenges, and my husband admitted that he burst into tears one day. Still, he has a positive outlook on life. “I haven’t given up on hope,” he told his physical therapist. His hope has renewed my hope. Equally important, his hope made me aware of the power of hope. As the days passed I realized hope made us a […]

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Healing Through Art: Interview with Sharon Strouse

Posted on May 18, 2014 - by Gloria Horsley

At the annual ADEC Conference, I had the opportunity to speak with Sharon Strouse of The Kristin Rita Strouse Foundation and discuss with her ways to deal with grief after losing a child. Sharon is also the author of a book called Artful Grief: A Diary of Healing. Using her book, anyone can create their own collage and begin the process of moving through grief. In the video below, Sharon shares how to use art therapy to heal. Here are some key takeaways from the video: Sharon lost her daughter to suicide on October 11, 2001. About a year after […]

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Death, Dying and Grief in an Online Universe: Interview with Carla Sofka

Posted on May 18, 2014 - by Gloria Horsley

At the annual ADEC Conference, I had the opportunity to speak with Carla Sofka and discuss with her how to deal with grief. Carla is the editor of the book Dying, Death, and Grief In An Online Universe. This book looks at grieving in an online world and talks about how it is affecting the way we grieve, and the way people are getting their information about the loss of a loved one or friend. In the interview below, Carla and I discuss how the process of dealing with death, dying, and grief is changing in today’s connected world. Here […]

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3 Ways To Find Hope After Loss: Interview with Dr. David Meagher

Posted on May 18, 2014 - by Heidi Horsley

At the annual ADEC Conference, I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. David Meagher and discuss with him ways that people can find hope again after loss. Dr. Meagher is a pediatric surgeon who practices in Ohio, but he is originally from New York.  I’m a fellow New Yorker as well, and as we all know, New York has been through a lot. After 9/11 especially, it took people many years for people to find hope again. I asked David to share three ways people can find hope after loss. Hear his advice in the video below:   Here […]

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What Gives Hope: Interview with Nancy Gershman, Memory Artist

Posted on May 18, 2014 - by Gloria Horsley

For Open To Hope Foundation’s “What Gives Hope?” video, artist Nancy Gershman tells founder Gloria Horsley that her prescriptive photomontages give three reasons to hope.  From what she’s learned from her end of life clients and their bereaved families, these portraits are: Tangible objects that are wearable, mail-able, and displayable., but you can also talk to them; A natural way to “campaign” for the deceased and everything they stand for; Talismans that encourage grieving people to re-integrate themselves into the land of the living, every time they share one. Nancy Gershman is a memory artist – part oral historian, part digital […]

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Talking to Children about Suicide

Posted on May 17, 2014 - by Linda Goldman

Children and Suicide in Today’s World The topic of suicide and children is one that has been approached with great difficulty. All too often parents, educators, therapists, and other caring professionals are unwilling or unable to speak of the issues surrounding suicide with today’s youth. Yet in our nation and in our world the young people globally are inundated and overwhelmed directly and vicariously with issues of suicide. The media acting as a surrogate parent, extended family, and ongoing source of amusement and stimulation creates graphic accounts for all kids to witness and potential glorify and imitate. Suicide/murder rampages in […]

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The Faces of Disenfranchised Grief: An Interview with Peggy Sapphire

Posted on May 17, 2014 - by Gloria Horsley

The following are introductory remarks by Peggy Sapphire, author of two poetry collections (A Possible Explanation, Partisan Press, In the End a Circle, Antrim House ’09). I got into the field of death and dying to explore of my own “disenfranchised grief. In my case, my ex-spouse, diagnosed over the last seven years, with two terminal illnesses, has caused an extended and more enlightened consideration of the impact of his death on the significant period of our marriage on my personal history. The writing process was both healing and revelatory. Healing can include creativity, rituals or any other ideas you […]

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Removing the Kimono of Mourning: Interview with Anne Carson

Posted on May 17, 2014 - by Gloria Horsley

One of the most important things in anyone’s bereavement process is to find what works personally/individually. There is an opportunity for much creativity in this process. The video features me (Anne Carson) reading the title poem in my collection, Removing the Kimono, and describing how the death of my husband prompted me to write a series of poems about our relationship, his sickness and death and my bereavement. I talk about how our Western cultures aren’t very good at supporting bereaved people and how we can learn from other cultures about this. While my husband was sick and then in […]

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