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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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‘How Long Will It Take?’

Posted on March 11, 2011 - by Shep Jeffreys

Grieving people, their friends and family frequently ask me the  question: “How Long Will It Take?” So many of their friends have their own ideas about the right length of time for grief and mourning. Those friends freely make their opinions known to those who are bereaved or suffering from other life losses. Clients will verbalize concern that they are taking too long or not grieving long or “hard enough” to satisfy others in their lives. My answer is, “As long as it takes,” provided that complications have not developed. For usual and customary grieving, there is no right amount […]

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Peace in Eight: Friends, Rituals, Time Lessen the Pain of Child-Loss

Posted on March 10, 2011 - by David Roberts

March 1st marked my daughter Jeannine’s eighth angelversary; on that date, Jeannine became forever eighteen. The last seven years have been characterized by intense grief during the days and months leading up to the date of her death. Since Jeannine died of cancer, I would consistently relive the excruciating pain of the last months and moments of her life.  I have gradually learned to manage the pain of my loss more effectively over the years. I also believe that reliving the pain of losing our children is another reminder that our love for them never dies. During the eighth year […]

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Grief Following the Loss of a Beloved Pet

Posted on March 9, 2011 - by Wendy Packman

The Pain of Loss “This is the most terrible pain I have ever had and I feel like I will never be the same person I was before my pet passed.  It felt like someone ripped my heart out of my chest when he died and a scream came out of me that was from some place unknown. I feel like I cannot go on and have lost my best friend who loved me without conditions or expectations.”  — Bereaved pet owner Becoming attached to beloved animal companions causes us to experience both joy and pain.  The bonds we develop with […]

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The Importance of Older Women After Mother-Loss

Posted on March 9, 2011 - by Lauren Muscarella

Volunteering at a hospital adorns me with friends whose ages span from 70 to 6. It’s actually quite enlightening. Occasionally a child needs looking after while a parent attends to adult things, and I have the privilege of listening to a first-grader read to me. Having friends who are older is especially important since my mother and I never had the chance to talk about life the way I would have liked. How we spoke when I was 19 is vastly different from how we would speak today. For that reason, I make it a point to nurture and cherish […]

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