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Music for my Relatives: Understanding Buchenwald

Posted on January 17, 2011 - by Stan Goldberg

I thought about my father’s family tree as I drove from Prague to Weimer. Thirty-three relatives had died in Auschwitz, three had been liberated from Dachau, but nothing was written about Buchenwald, the concentration camp I would visit the next day, November 11th, 2010. It was Veterans Day in the United States and Armistice Day in Europe. I stood just inside the entrance and looked at the sign which could only be read by prisoners after they entered single-file through an iron door, giving the SS an opportunity to formally “initiate” them into the culture of Buchenwald. Jedum Das Seine. […]

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After Someone Dies, Can We Still Live in Joy?

Posted on January 16, 2011 - by Kimberly Wencl

It was September of 2003, and my daughter, Elizabeth, who had just turned 20, was beginning her sophomore year at the University of Minnesota.  During the early morning hours of Saturday, September 20th, a fire broke out in her duplex, and she and two roommates died of smoke inhalation. The question I’m often asked is how can you find joy when you have suffered such a devastating loss? The answer is simple, yet complex.  It is a journey and not a destination.  I wouldn’t be where I am today had God, or The Universe as I like to call it, […]

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Three Mindfulness Techniques for Grieving People

Posted on January 15, 2011 - by Kim Go

Mindfulness practitioners offer the insight that resisting our pain often deepens our pain. What can manifest when we resist our pain? When we attempt to cripple our awareness and pain, the inner wisdom will reliably refuse to back down. So, inner wisdom shows itself in a crippled fashion, perhaps in the guise of panic attacks, physical malady, sleep disturbance, rage, dissociative behavior, crisis, abusive self-medicating or other insults to the body, mind and spirit. The mind can become tormented – as the Buddhists characterize it – the “monkey mind.” I should say that I am not a specialist. I am […]

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100 Great Stress Busters for Kids

Posted on January 14, 2011 - by Jewel Sample

Stress is the normal nervous tension we feel in our bodies when we are making a transition in our life. Change is sometimes predictable like the birth of a baby, transferring to a higher school grade or graduation from high school. Then there are changes that happen unexpectedly, like coming down with a major illness, being involved in an accident, the sudden death of a loved one; or a disaster strikes like a major flood or fire. These types of life events demand adjustment to life being different from what is now. Some call it a new normal. While we […]

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The Tucson Memorial Service: Why did People Applaud?

Posted on January 13, 2011 - by Harriet Hodgson

Like millions of other Americans, I turned on the television to watch the memorial service for the victims of the Tucson rampage.  The service opened with music, as many traditional services do, and President and Mrs. Obama bowed their heads as the symphony orchestra played the Copeland fanfare. Then things began to change.  People, approximately 24,000 of them,  began to applaud points the speakers made.  “You shouldn’t applaud at a memorial service,” I commented to my husband, who was sitting beside me. “No, you shouldn’t, he agreed. As the service progressed, I realized this wasn’t an ordinary memorial service.  Somehow, […]

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Ten Active Ways to Live With Loss

Posted on January 13, 2011 - by Gabriel Constans

Mourning the loss of someone you love, adore, respect, hate, despise or have any combination of feelings towards takes time and attention, but you don’t have to just sit there and take it. Sometimes grief can cause such lethargy and exhaustion that it may seem impossible to “do” anything other than get through the day. The irony is that once you get moving, emoting or acting it usually increases your motivation, energy and health. Once you have taken the time to acknowledge your loss (whatever it may be), feel its full impact and the changes it is causing in your […]

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Give Grief A Voice

Posted on January 12, 2011 - by admin

My 16 year old son recently made a video about teen grief. He asked other teens to tell their stories, and used them to create the video. He was also approached by other teens who told him that they thought it was great that he was making it, but that they just could not bring themselves to talk about their experience. I would like to share his video with all of you. Here is the link: Please share with the kids you know! God Bless you all!

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Dancing in the rain

Posted on January 12, 2011 - by admin

To the sounds of the patter I did not create Dancing in the rain Fast and furious is my pace Dancing in the rain Can’t stop these piercing needles dictate Dancing in the rain Cos I’m wet, drenched soaked to the core I have no choice but to dance in the rain For my son Ibrahim Bash-Taqi 12.02.93 – 24.11.10

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Shh…

Posted on January 12, 2011 - by admin

They see me smiling They don’t know why They are so bewildered They thought you died You are so alive to me my Dit Right here in my heart For my son Ibrahim Bash-Taqi 12.02.93 – 24.11.10

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Giving Yourself Away – A Source of Comfort When You’re Grieving

Posted on January 11, 2011 - by Harriet Hodgson

My daughter loved Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanksgiving was special because she was born on this day. Christmas gave her a chance to give to others, even though she had little money. In her younger years, when she didn’t have twins to care for and her job as an engineer, family members often received homemade gifts. These are happy memories for me, yet the prospect of a new year, can be melancholy. Life isn’t the same without my daughter and the other family members who died in 2007: my father-in-law, brother, and former son-in-law. I loved them and counted on their […]

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