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Releasing Anger While Dealing with Loss

Posted on March 16, 2011 - by Shirley Wiles-Dickinson

As most of us know, there are certain things that trigger our emotions while on this journey of grief.  I think it’s safe to say that we all understand there are different stages of grief, different emotions and feelings also. Many people experience anger while grieving. Anger at the deceased, anger at God, anger at the situation, just plain anger. After my sister was murdered, just under 18 months ago, I experienced anger. I still experience it.  I was angry that it happened to my sister. I was angry at God, and I still have a few questions for him.  […]

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The Twins and Their Shadows

Posted on March 15, 2011 - by admin

My fourth grade year concluded with long shadows cast over it. The class was all elbows and knees. Among my classmates were “the twins”, Bobby and Ricky – the source of fascination. 2 people who seemed to be versions of the other was mysterious to us all. Then, one morning in February, the principle arrived and prompted us to notice that the twins were not present. The twins, home alone, were playing with a family gun and one had accidentally shot and killed the other. He announced that children should never play with guns. And then he left. Our teacher […]

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Questions About Public Grieving

Posted on March 15, 2011 - by Tony Falzano

Have you noticed the attention the media give to public figures suffering through terminal illness and grief? Most recently, activist Sargent Shriver and attorney Elizabeth Edwards have been in the news. And before them, there were celebrities Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon. As these public figures faced the paparazzi, they became role models as they witnessed to us their personal struggles with deteriorating health. In return, we have all been touched on a deep and cellular level. For some of us, it became a topic of conversation at the water cooler, in our car pool or at the dinner table. […]

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Don’t Let Them Go

Posted on March 14, 2011 - by Gabriel Constans

Death always seems to come to soon or when we don’t expect it. No matter how long someone has lived or how they’ve died, it is impossible to fully prepare for the moment and the days that follow. Our relationships don’t end with death. We are always connected. Death changes the way in which we can communicate, but our feelings, thoughts, memories and experiences live on. We can say goodbye to a loved one, as we knew them, but we don’t have to say goodbye forever. We can choose to say “hello” to them, as the days pass, how we […]

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From the Fires Come Unexpected Gifts

Posted on March 14, 2011 - by Vicky Bates

A few years back, we had a forest fire here in the Sawtooth Mountains. The first evening, we collectively came out and stood on hillsides to watch in horror and awe as the flames engulfed the woods and the pristine scenery, never dreaming it would overpower the town in the days to come. It seemed incomprehensible. As the days went on, a multitude of states were called in to assist, tents were set up, meals prepared. For weeks, acres of trees burned up and down the mountainsides, closing in on our historic town. Finally, people were asked to take their important […]

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Frankfort, Kentucky Regional Conference

Posted on March 13, 2011 - by admin

Please join us for our Compassionate Friends regional conference March 25 & 26 in Frankfort, Kentucky. “Words of Wisdom, Hearts of Love” This conference is for any one touched by the death of a child. Exec. Dir., of The Compassionate Friends, Pat Loder wil be joining us as well as past President of the Board, Pat Malone. Artist, Alan Pedersen and author Mitch Carmody. We have workshops for those have experienced a death of a child in the line of duty of a police officer, soldier or firefighter, survivors of suicide, For Women Only, Creative Arts, Impact of child loss […]

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Open to hope

Frankfort, Kentucky Regional Conference

Posted on March 13, 2011 - by admin

Please join us for our Compassionate Friends regional conference March 25 & 26 in Frankfort, Kentucky. “Words of Wisdom, Hearts of Love” This conference is for any one touched by the death of a child. Exec. Dir., of The Compassionate Friends, Pat Loder wil be joining us as well as past President of the Board, Pat Malone. Artist, Alan Pedersen and author Mitch Carmody. We have workshops for those have experienced a death of a child in the line of duty of a police officer, soldier or firefighter, survivors of suicide, For Women Only, Creative Arts, Impact of child loss […]

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Lost my soulmate after only 6 months of marriage.

Posted on March 13, 2011 - by admin

This is all new and so unexpected. Wow one year you are preparong for the wedding of your dreams and the following year you are burying your new spouse. Is this a bad dream or what? The emotions are higher than a rollercoaster. I could have never imagined being on this journey. I am, one minute at a time as my emotions change that rapidly. Unless you are in these shoes, no one can ever understand what you are going thru.

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Grieving With Help After Our Son’s Suicide

Posted on March 13, 2011 - by admin

We were not left alone after our son, Joshua, died by suicide. People from across the states took the time to listen and some cried with us. It would take pages to mention them name-by-name, but because of who he was to Joshua, I’ll choose one. After Joshua’s memorial, when the hall emptied out and the doors locked, Dana, Joshua’s childhood friend, stood with my husband and I and asked questions. “Why do you think Joshua did this? What was his frame of mind right before it happened?” And other such inquiries. What Dana did from then on was stay […]

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Mom Opens to Forgiveness After Son’s Murder

Posted on March 12, 2011 - by Mary Westra

I don’t find forgiveness a very easy concept to deal with after the murder of my son. My 24-year-old son Peter was kicked to death by bouncers in Atlantic City, NJ, in July 2001 during a bachelor party. For reasons that remain unclear, one bouncer took Peter out of the club about 4:00 AM, roughed him up on the hood of a Honda, left him there. When Peter tried to go back into the club, five men streamed out the door, knocked him to the ground, and continued to kick him even after he lost consciousness. Then they went back […]

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