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Angel Tree Makes for Roses in December

Posted on December 14, 2010 - by Amy Daly

“God gave us memories so we would have roses in December.” ~James M. Barrie By late 1998, I was preparing for my first holiday season without my precious daughter, Alexandria, who had died January 29, 1998 as a newborn. I had a 33-month-old son, Bryce. It had been almost a year since my daughter died and I was halfway into the subsequent pregnancy with my third child, another girl. Surely I was through the worst of the grief and my mind and heart would observe the expectation I had set for myself that I was beyond the heartache. I could […]

Helping Others Means Deeply Listening to the Words

Posted on December 13, 2010 - by Lyn Prashant

I often hear grieving individuals express profound feelings and significant emotions using uniquely distinct phrases found in English. The stories of loss can live in our bodies. When we receive information of loss, our ears hear the news, our minds process the data, our brain reacts by sending information to our bodies in the form of chemicals. Our bodies, the barometers of our feelings, register the emotional impact of the losses held in our soma (our physical self). Fresh grief re-stimulates the grief we are somatically carrying from prior losses; and when losses combine the effect that occurs is exponential. […]

Why am I mourning this way?

Posted on December 12, 2010 - by admin

It was June 11th when my grandmother was diagnode with cancer noone expected this news my grandma was always so energetic,cheerful and upbeat. It was so hard for the family to cope with the news but we all thought that we would have more time with her, sadly her illness took drastic and fast effects on her. She died in August and Im not feeling better I have a heavy heart because I feel I shouldve dedicated more time to her during the last days. I have a 5 mnth old and she only got to carry him once because […]

Remember Elizabeth Edwards’ Words: ‘Put Together Something Good’

Posted on December 12, 2010 - by Kelly Buckley

“Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you’ve lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that’s good.” ~Elizabeth Edwards A person who is dear to my heart sent this quote along to me and I had to share it. Although I was never fortunate enough to meet Elizabeth Edwards in person, I have thought of her often on my grief journey. I read some of her words about the loss of her own […]

Namaste, Elizabeth Edwards

Posted on December 12, 2010 - by Mitch Carmody

I first really comprehended the seduction of collective grief thirty years ago when John Lennon was murdered in 1980. In fact, as I write these words it is December 8, 2010, thirty years to the day that John Lennon was senselessly murdered. I was shocked and stunned when I heard the news. Throughout the day I talked about it to everyone. Akin to the experience of 9-11-2001 many years later, it consumed my thoughts throughout the day and weeks that followed. I was in a very subtle by pervasive cloud of sadness and despair. That is collective grief, the response […]

Why One Person’s Grief Affects All of Us

Posted on December 12, 2010 - by Gabriel Constans

If anyone believes that losses experienced by others is not their concern, I’d ask them to think again. The cost, both individually and collectively, to our society of those experiencing complications from mourning is astronomical and all encompassing. Complex or complicated mourning can be the result of multiple deaths, the death of a child, death from suicide, accident, homicide, unexpected loss and/or pre-existing conditions (before the death occurred) of alcoholism, abuse or mental illness. It is estimated that these difficult circumstances affect one out of every three mourners in the United States. There are approximately 2 million deaths per year […]

Keith Loehr Memorial Scholarship Fund

Posted on December 11, 2010 - by admin

My husband, Dick, and I have set up a “Keith Loehr Memorial Scholarship” at Purdue University. ( Dick and I both graduated from Purdue.) For: Graduate Student in Counseling, College of Education, Purdue University, West Lafayette Campus The purpose of this scholarship is to provide financial support for a student who has an interest in suicide prevention through the early detection and treatment of students suffering from depression. Special emphasis should be directed towards students in the primary and secondary schools The symptoms of depression are known, and treatment programs which involve counseling and perhaps medicine can be effective. Often, […]

Despite Flaws, John Edwards Deserves the Title of ‘Widower’

Posted on December 11, 2010 - by Robin Moore

One of the most destructive grief myths is “the deeper the love, the greater the grief.” John and Elizabeth Edwards had, no doubt, a complicated relationship. He’d had an affair, another child, and the couple were separated, but stories tell us he moved back home to be with Elizabeth and their three children recently, as her condition worsened. So I anticipate that despite this late, public transformation to devoted family leader, there will be lots of talk about John Edwards’ transition to widower and likely, lots of judgment of how he grieves based on how he “should” feel. Some widowed […]

A Letter to Elizabeth and John Edwards’ Children

Posted on December 10, 2010 - by Karen Johnson

Dear Children: It is with great sadness to hear of your beloved mother’s death. No matter what age, to have a parent die is a difficult happening and the beginning of a very different life without them. Though I was not fortunate enough to know your mom, I admired her ability to model grief. She was losing her health and her life while also grieving the loss of her marriage and husband. I am grateful to her for being a role model of grief. There are few. To those of you in school, maybe you could find a grief space […]

What Elizabeth Edwards’ Life and Death Teaches Us

Posted on December 10, 2010 - by Jewel Sample

It is often said no one really knows someone until they live with them, so as a part of public observation, I have a view of Elizabeth Edwards that is defined by the media. I have read a few opinions others have made about her, as well as observed her interviews on public television. Through these media resources, I have drawn an opinion about her which includes a sense of her compassion for others. When I heard the news of Elizabeth Edward’s death this week, my thoughts went to what I have learned about grief and loss from her public […]