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After Boston, is Anyone Safe?

Posted on April 27, 2013 - by Susan Berger

When I saw my daughter’s question on facebook after the Boston Marathon Bombing last week, I knew she was expressing a universal feeling of sadness and anxiety about the world we now live in. I knew she was worrying about the safety of the world my 4-year-old grandson is growing up in. As a Bostonian, I know that globalization has changed every aspect of our lives — from the clothes we buy and the food we eat, to the multi-cultural society we inhabit, and the diverse, and often divergent, values and beliefs that wreak havoc on our sense of security. […]

Reflections on Letting Go

Posted on April 24, 2013 - by Donna Miesbach

Grief creeps into our lives in so many ways. Loved ones die, friends or family move away, children grow up and leave home, jobs change, pets die, a treasured possession becomes damaged or lost. And these are just some of the things we must cope with as we live our daily lives. One of the reasons such changes are so difficult is because they are links to the past, to what we know and are comfortable with. Being creatures who prefer comfort, we do not readily welcome change. The past – the “known” – has become our friend. I have […]

Could Writing Help the Boston Survivors?

Posted on April 24, 2013 - by Madeline Sharples

The bombings in Boston have left me in tears. Every time I hear the news, see the photos of those who died or were wounded, I want to curl up and block it all out. It is much the way I felt after my son took his life in 1999. These kinds of tragedies bring all those sad feelings back. I also want to find a way to help. In my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On, I told how I survived through writing. It is my belief that everyone who has experienced such a tragedy – and I suspect […]

Giving Grief a Voice

Posted on April 23, 2013 - by John Pete

Sharing gives voice to difficult loss and painful grief. But it also helps others to know they are never alone. And that is a wonderful way to honor the lives of our loved ones.

In Solidarity with the Boston Survivors

Posted on April 23, 2013 - by Sandra Huerta

None of us are exempt from potential tragedy and no matter how close a relationship we have with our loved ones, or even with God, it does not keep us from experiencing tragedy from time to time. Nothing guarantees that we’ll be protected from harm. We see that in the news every day. Whether by accident, deliberate acts of violence like the Boston Marathon ombings, or suicide, as was the case with Pastor Rick Warren’s 27-year-old son who committed suicide a couple of weeks ago. Death is the hardest thing we will ever have to face…but we don’t have to […]

Searching for Meaning in Life

Posted on April 23, 2013 - by Diane Dettmann

Alone after the sudden death of my 54 year-old husband, I struggled to figure out who I was and where I was headed in life. Trying to find the “Diane” within, I reconnected with hobbies of the past and at the same time, tried new adventures. The following excerpt from my memoir, Twenty-Eight Snow Angels: A Widow’s Story of Love, Loss and Renewal, is about my first kayaking experience on Lake Superior at the Bluefin Bay Resort in Tofte, Minnesota in 2005. Little did I know that paddling along the “Big Lake” would trigger a turning point in my grief […]

The Paradox of Great Change

Posted on April 23, 2013 - by Donna Miesbach

When great change comes into our lives, we may feel as though we are in a foreign land. All seems strange and different somehow, and we may feel hesitant or unsure as to how to proceed. To be sure, a door has opened before us, a door that perhaps we may not wish to go through. And yet, we must proceed in one way or another. Life does go on, and so must we. The question, then, becomes – how do we proceed? Always we have a choice, and much depends on how we exercise that prerogative. Change can be […]

Helping Others Helps the Griever

Posted on April 22, 2013 - by Mary Jane Clayton

As I read about the grieving process, I noticed many suggest we should do something nice for someone else. It’s hard to think of reaching out to another person when you feel so broken, but doing so opens our eyes to the fact that there are still good things going on in life and being a part of them will lift us up. It may be a temporary fix, but even a temporary fix feels good. No matter how simple or elaborate it may be, it always works. When you give, you receive. While working on my book, Brittany’s Rose, […]

Don’t Turn the Deceased into Perfect Person

Posted on April 20, 2013 - by Melinda Richarz Lyons

After you lose someone you love very much, it is only natural to think about that person in a very positive way. But sometimes we can go too far, and if we do, we end up with unrealistic memories. I know my husband, Sid, was very bothered when a friend of his died, and his wife promptly turned him into a saint. Sid scolded me about that, saying, “When I go, don’t turn me into some super guy!” Of course to me, he was a super guy. But after he died, I tried to remember those words. We are all […]

Springtime Thoughts Lead to Children Who Have Died

Posted on April 19, 2013 - by Sandy Fox

After an unusually, stormy, cold winter all over the nation, spring has finally arrived. The days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer, and the flowers are now blooming. Along with nature’s beauty comes thoughts of our children who are no longer with us. Oh, how they, too, would love the beautiful sunsets, seeing the return of the birds from the south and perhaps experience a new crop or newly born animals coming out of their winter shelters. But they will not see any of this, and it makes me very sad to think not only what we parents […]