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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 […]

Elizabeth Edwards Triumphant in Life

Posted on December 10, 2010 - by Sharon Roth-Lichtenfeld

This past week, Elizabeth Edwards passed away. Many articles talked about her struggles in life. I would like to take a moment and discuss her triumphs. Elizabeth Edwards thrived in the face of adversity. In her own words: “Either you push forward with the things that you were doing yesterday or you start dying,” she said. “If I had given up everything that my life was about … I’d let cancer win before it needed to.” Eilzabeth recognized that at some point the cancer would win. However, she was determined to live her life fully before that happened. She had […]

Elizabeth Edwards Comforted Others Who Had Lost a Child

Posted on December 10, 2010 - by Anne Dionne

I met Elizabeth Edwards briefly during the summer of 2007. I was in Oklahoma City, attending a conference of The Compassionate Friends, a bereavement support organization for parents, grandparents and siblings. Mrs. Edwards was one of the keynote speakers. This was during a time when the path of life would take many twists and turns for Elizabeth. Just a few months prior to the conference, Elizabeth had learned that her cancer had returned and was now malignant–all the while, her husband was making a presidendial bid for the White House. This was also a time when, unknown to Elizabeth, her husband […]

Elizabeth Edwards Inspires by Making Meaning in her Life

Posted on December 10, 2010 - by Nancy Rappaport

Elizabeth Edwards’ gift and one of the reasons why the nation mourns her death is she showed the healing that comes after a trauma when you build a narrative of what it means. People looked to Elizabeth as a role model, and most importantly her children needed her to find a way to get past her disappointment and to make sense of what betrayal and infidelity means. She was courageous enough to tell a nuanced story. Of course, we will never know her most private thoughts. As a public person and writer, you always choose what you are willing to […]

Elizabeth Edwards Embodied The Hero Archetype

Posted on December 10, 2010 - by Mary Jane Hurley Brant

Many are mourning the death of Elizabeth Edwards. I would like to share some thoughts of my own about why we are gripped by her life’s story. I believe Elizabeth Edwards embodies two archetypes: the mother and the hero. I will focus on the hero archetype believing it is the more prominent. Just as Odysseus was asked to leave his routine life because something serious occurred, we also may be called to do something heroic. We might be called to save our king, our country, our friend, or ourselves. And because the task is arduous, we may not want to […]