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When She Says, ‘I Have Cancer,’ What Do You Say?

Posted on January 9, 2012 - by Stan Goldberg

There are 12 million of us in the United States who live with cancer and the number rises every year as researchers find new drugs to extend our lives. Some of us hide our diagnosis even from trusted loved ones, while others freely share it for a variety of reasons. I’m sure at least once in everyone’s life they will learn that a close friend or family member has cancer. How will you respond when you hear, “I have cancer?” Often, there is an awkward moment when people hear someone is living cancer—or worse, expects to eventually die from it. […]

The End of Grief: ‘Are We There Yet?’

Posted on January 8, 2012 - by Debra Reagan

As I open the new 2012 calendar I purchased at the mall, I think about where I have been and where I am going. Is my life what I thought it would be? Absolutely not! Not since the death of my 20-year-old son, Clint, 6 1/2 years ago. After Clint died, I knew I wanted to find some way to make a good life for my family and myself. I was not sure how we would get to our new normal, but that was the goal. Many times I have asked myself the phrase many moms and dads have heard […]

Cat Offers Solace in the Grieving Years

Posted on January 7, 2012 - by Bobbi Emel

After my partner, Ruth, died in 2004, I found solace in a most unusual source, our sixteen-year-old calico cat, Daisy. Now, I know pets are often a great source of comfort to us, but Daisy was special. She was blind. I always thought I would need to take care of her after she suddenly lost her sight when she was about fifteen. “Sometimes this just happens to older cats,” our vet had said at the time, shrugging her shoulders. But Daisy didn’t really need any extra care. When I moved shortly after Ruth died, my cousin and I taught Daisy […]

‘I Can’t Tell Them I’m Dying’

Posted on January 5, 2012 - by Marty Tousley

A reader writes: I am married and the mother of three children. I have been told by my doctors that I have a rare and terminal illness. My husband and children love me and need me, and they do not know that I am dying because I cannot tell them. How can I tell the ones who count on me that I won’t be here for them? How can I tell them that I brought them into the world with love and tears, and now I’m leaving? My husband and children don’t know. I won’t let them know. Why should […]

Son Sends Signs that He’s Never Far Away

Posted on January 4, 2012 - by Patrick T. Malone

When our second son, Lance, was born, he quickly found the middle two fingers of his right hand served his well as a pacifier. His index and little finger extended straight up on each cheek creating the “hook’em horns” symbol made famous by the University of Texas at Austin. When his habit continued as a toddler, we would gently remind him he was sucking his fingers by saying, “hook’em horns,” and he would stop. Lance was killed in a motorcycle accident on Memorial Day May 29, 1995, at age 25. Two years later, his younger brother Sean married Jennifer and […]

How Do I Handle Unexpected Troubles?

Posted on January 3, 2012 - by Carl Mathis

When times are troubling, how do you handle it? 1: Choose something that makes you smile and makes you happy–then think about it on a daily basis. By thinking about it, it will program into you thinking capability, which will transform into you action, as a result you attitude towards that situation will change. 2: Realize that you are not the only one with unfortunate situations and circumstances, so don’t be so hard on yourself. In most cases, your situation may be small compared to others. Everyone has some kind of challenge in their life. Everybody is busy with their […]

In Widowhood, Woman Discovered her ‘Song’

Posted on January 2, 2012 - by Laurel D. Rund

I am a woman who has been reborn in the afternoon of her life. The death of my husband of 42 years could have stopped me in my tracks. Instead, it not only took me on a journey into grief, it also took me on a journey into self-discovery. I didn’t have an answer, but I knew I had a “song.” “A bird does not sing because it has an answer; it sings because it has a song!” Chinese Proverb After my husband’s death, I felt alone, undefined and invisible. At that time I wrote in my personal journal, “I […]

Creating Positive Affirmations for a New Year

Posted on January 1, 2012 - by Harriet Hodgson

Losing four family members in 2007 changed my thinking. I wondered if I would survive multiple losses. More worrisome, I wondered if I would ever be happy again. It didn’t take long for me to realize I needed an attitude adjustment. Somehow, I had to turn my negative thoughts to positive ones. I began to write affirmations. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. Affirmations came to me in the car, at the grocery store, and while I was fixing meals. At first, I wrote the affirmations in my mind. But I wrote so many affirmations I started a computer file […]

The Circle of Life, the Spirit of Hope

Posted on January 1, 2012 - by Susan Whitmore

After eleven long hours of pain, there she was─chestnut brown hair, vivid blue eyes, cute pug nose, round face and full lips. She was so beautiful. It was instant love. I knew in that moment that my life would never be the same again. The circle of life had begun. The year was 1970, and her name was Erika. She was my only child. I was a happy, contented mother. Erika was everything to me─my meaning and purpose in life. We traveled through our lives together, never taking our gift of love for granted. Thirty years had flown by, and […]

A New Year’s Hope: Prayer for Peace

Posted on December 31, 2011 - by Shirley Wiles-Dickinson

Prayer for Peace If there is to be peace in the world, There must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, There must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, There must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, There must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, There must be peace in the heart. I recently came across this prayer and have spent hours thinking about it. In the world today, we so […]