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In Widow’s World, Living With Purpose is Hard

Posted on June 7, 2011 - by Christine Thiele

I was really good at living with intention before my husband died.  I was good about doing things with good reason and being thoughtful, even purposeful, about what I did and how I did it.  I had the luxury of more time to think through my decisions and even more important I think, I had someone to share those decisions, reasons, and purpose with. I think for me, it felt more intentional with a witness near. Since widowhood began, I have been through many phases, stages, whatever we might call them.  One of the stages I have the most difficulty […]

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Recipes Link Her to Mother-in-Law, Memories

Posted on June 6, 2011 - by Harriet Hodgson

After my mother-in-law died, I received her copy of The Boston Cooking School Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer. No other family members wanted the book, which surprised me, so it became mine. Over the years, she used the book as a file, and tucked clippings and recipe booklets in its pages. She also added notes to recipes. On the first page, a blank, there’s a handwritten recipe for brownies. According to my mother-in-law, the recipe came from a friend in Lima, Peru. During World War II, my father-in-law was a staff physician at the British American Hospital there. The […]

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Grieving with my twin

Posted on June 5, 2011 - by admin

My name is Lori, and I have an identical twin sister named Lisa. When we were just 16 years old, due to medical problems, Lisa was told she would never have her own children. Through a miracle, she became pregnant and had a beautiful son named Jacob. Lisa was a single mom and I had not had any of my children yet, to I was her labor coach and of course, Jake was like one of my own children. I had my firstborn a year later; a daughter, and she and Jacob were like siblings. I then went on to […]

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In Grief, Words Matter

Posted on June 5, 2011 - by Deb Kosmer

In grief, many words are bandied about: denial, acceptance, healing, closure, forget, move on, recover, acknowledge, anger, and guilt. These words are thrown at us, sometimes in our face, by others. These others may mean well, but their effect is usually the opposite. These others are often just misinformed individuals, trying to help. They don’t realize that the only help we are interested in is the return of our loved one, an impossibility. At times, we may use these words ourselves, as we struggle to make sense and order out of the place we are now in. When my son […]

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‘Shoot Me, Please’: The Right to Die

Posted on June 3, 2011 - by Stan Goldberg

He pleaded with me to shoot him and the request wasn’t figurative. He was my first patient as a hospice volunteer in San Francisco. That moment, eight years ago, still haunts me. Not because I was confronted with a real life decision of immense consequences, but rather because I knew that I couldn’t honor his request, nor relieve the enormous psychological pain he was enduring—one that lasted for the next few months until he died. It was the first and only time I was so directly confronted by the issue of a person’s right to die—from the person who wanted […]

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‘Heartbreaking Events Followed by Extreme Growth’

Posted on June 2, 2011 - by Vicky Bates

Why us? There seems to be an invisible cord that connects parents who have lost children. I can’t tell you how many times I’ll be in line at the post office or in a store and someone will mention to their friend about the child they lost. The other day I was at the grocery store and the checker was asking the woman in front of me how she was doing, referring to a loss. It turned out she lost a child. The woman behind me said I know how she feels, five years ago she lost a child. Wow, […]

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Death Anniversary Dates Can Carry Heavy Weight

Posted on June 1, 2011 - by Kathryn Williams Raths

Dates come and go, but certain ones stick out and carry a dark and heavy weight. The energy of these particular dates are associated with a loss.  This anniversary date forces you into a time warp charged with painful memories of the horrid event.  How can you free yourself from this emotionally exhaustive annual pain?   Start by marking the date with a new and positive tradition. Perhaps if your father passed through VA hospice (like mine), make it an annual tradition to visit a veteran (someone who is grateful for your time).  This might be difficult at first because […]

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Thoughts -life of a suicide

Posted on May 31, 2011 - by admin

My Brother Jason died from suicide about 11 years ago,I wrote a book about his suicide and the afterlife and working in the mental health field

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One man strugle to put his life back together

Posted on May 31, 2011 - by admin

As I mediate on the past event of what occurred in my life, I wonder if there was not a God could I have survived this devastation. So many times I wanted to give up and just say enough is enough I don’t need all this stress and pain in my life. But because of love, giving up always seems too vanished in thin air. What I am trying to say is, because I know that God love me, and He won’t leave me to handle this all alone, I gain strength to hold on, and then I loved my […]

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Brianna I just want to wake up and see you

Posted on May 30, 2011 - by admin

My daughter always woke me up by climbing into bed with me, wiggling her toes into me, and touching her nose to mine. Then when I opened my eyes she would break into this smile wrinkle her nose and laugh, some times so hard she would snort which would make both of us laugh harder. She is gone now she was just right there swimming next to us and just swam off a bit. Now she is gone , why …? She is 7.she is my only daughter. Yes I still have my two boys 11 and 3.I want my […]

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