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The Comfort of Linking Objects

Posted on December 5, 2023 - by Harriet Hodgson

The Comfort of Linking Objects Giving away linking objects is part of my story. Linking objects are things that belong to the deceased person, such as a watch, a bread knife, woodworking tools, and more. As soon as he died, I slipped John’s wedding ring on my finger. Wearing the ring made me feel like John was still with me. I touched the ring and remembered the years we shared. Wearing John’s ring comforts me every day. Linking objects could comfort other family members. I gave John’s black leather medical bag with gold letters on the side that read, “C. […]

Are You Making Progress in Your Grief?

Posted on November 21, 2023 - by Beth Marshall

So how do you know if you’re making progress on this messy journey called grief? I remember going through seasons where a trigger would wipe me out or tears would come from out of nowhere. I’d wonder if it was always going to be this way. I’m happy to tell you, thankfully, it won’t always be this way. Are you making progress in your grief? Here are a few glimmers of healing you might be noticing now: Sadness and sorrow are not the first thoughts on your mind in the morning. Rather than sprinting away from a friend who’s experiencing […]

Holding On, Letting Go After Husband’s Death

Posted on November 20, 2023 - by Harriet Hodgson

What I Let Go Of After my husband died, I had to decide what to let go of and what to hold onto. I let go of John’s companionship. John and I enjoyed each other, were honest with each other, and most importantly, listened to each other. After conversing with him for years about a wide range of topics—everything from saving whales, to changes in political parties, to child Advance Review Copy Uncorrected Proof 144 Winning development—I didn’t have anyone to talk to. The apartment was silent. I remembered past conversations and yearned to have new conversations with him. I let […]

Funeral Provides Children with Full Picture of Dad

Posted on November 20, 2023 - by Ken Lefkowitz

Funeral Provides Children with Full Picture of Dad During the day of my father Leo’s funeral, his sons were treated to much praise and tributes from members of the Factory Inspectors Union, many of whom attended Leo’s burial with sincere, deep respect. Leo’s oldest son, Phil, who had left Leo’s hospital bedside, returned for the funeral. At the grave site, Jake Peters, a union officer, philosophized to Leo’s three sons, “If you die and don’t accomplish anything, don’t leave a mark, you die for sure. But if you’ve impacted something, changing something, fought and stood up for something, you live […]

Widower Honors Both Deceased Wives

Posted on November 20, 2023 - by Peter Lichtenberg

Peter A. Lichtenberg, PhD was inducted into the Radnor High School Hall of Fame on Friday, November 10, in Radnor, Penn. Peter was honored for his work and impact on the field of gerontology and especially in helping to understand, aid victims of, and prevent financial exploitation of older people. He lost his wife Becky at age 25 to a sudden death and his wife Susan at 55 to breast cancer. Life Achievement Honor Feels Great It was four days of excitement, sharing, exploring, honoring, reflecting, and enjoying so much being “home”— at Radnor High School, with my brother, in Philadelphia. […]

Don’t Shield Your Children from Grief

Posted on November 19, 2023 - by Beth Marshall

In our predominantly fun childhood, the one thing kids were never allowed to do was to participate in the funeral-related activities when someone passed away. Grief and sadness were simply not on the agenda. When someone died, my brothers, sisters, and I would keep playing kickball and jumping on the trampoline, while our parents did funeral things. After the service, we rarely talked about the person who had died. Even in the years that followed, we didn’t do much to remember our beloved family members who were now gone. As an adult, I learned quickly that shielding kids from sorrow […]

Questions You May Ask in Your Pain

Posted on November 17, 2023 - by Beth Marshall

During the intense period after the loss of my favorite people, many questions ran through my mind. These are questions you might ask in your pain. Will the tsunami of tears ever end? Why do some people seem to skate through sorrow while I feel isolated and stuck? If my brain is this foggy and I’m contemplating hibernating ’til springtime, am I going crazy? Or is this just what grief looks like? Where are the people who came around in the early days? Do they even care about me? Or about her? I wish I could have seen my mom’s […]

One Step at a Time: Through the ‘Dark Valley,’

Posted on November 15, 2023 - by Beth Marshall

After months of trying to outrun the ache and sprint toward some imaginary silver lining, I realized that running from the pain can leave you crushed, lonely, and confused. In that desperate season, the Lord gently revealed something I’d never known: The only lasting way to the other side of shattering heartbreak is right through the dark valley, one step at a time. I wish someone had told me the deep sorrow, confusion, and grief-related anxiety would not last forever! Wherever you are on your journey, will you imagine a few possible scenarios with me? What if the pain won’t […]

‘What Do You Do with All this Pain?’

Posted on November 13, 2023 - by Beth Marshall

Have you ever gotten news that literally took your breath away? I surely have. It was the late-night call that my mom—my healthy, hilarious, newlywed mom—was gone. Nobody could have imagined her happily-ever-after ending so quickly. As weeks marched by, the shock wore off and I was left wondering, what do you do with all this pain? If you’ve ever lost someone you love—whether there was time to prepare, or their death came with no time to brace—you probably realize grief is one of the hardest things we ever face. That’s why I wrote Uncrushed. My hope is that my […]

Angry At a God I Didn’t Even Know

Posted on November 9, 2023 - by Shannon Harris

Angry at God Bereaved parents become experts on all things grief soon after the death of a child. We research. We read articles, talk to doctors and therapists. And we constantly self-assess, trying to figure out which of the five stages of grief we are in and how long before we get to the next one. We find facebook groups with other suffering parents and silently compare pain, wondering to ourselves, “Am I that bad?” or “How can she be doing that well so soon?” We gather information from all kinds of sources, desperately trying to piece together a new […]