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Music Helps Tap into Good Memories of Dad

Posted on April 8, 2010 - by James Einert

My dad died in July of 2009. It was a great loss for me, as I had lost my mom 6 years earlier. He was in declining health, but nothing seemed life threatening. Then he had a sudden aneurysm in his stomach, and was gone less than 2 hours after being taken to the hospital. My dad was a Christian and ready to go. We sang gospel music for over 45 years and my wife, children and I will carry on with that ministry. The emotion that surprises me the most from the loss of my dad is that I feel alone […]

Raising my Twin Grandchildren: Endings and Beginnings

Posted on April 7, 2010 - by Harriet Hodgson

After our elder daughter was killed in a car crash and our former son-in-law died in another car crash, my husband and I became GRGs – grandparents raising grandchildren. Wow, did our lives change! We are back to booming rock music, school concerts, ringing phones, text messages and emails, sleepovers, and school trips. Since I had been cooking for two so long, it took me several months to adjust to cooking for teens again. I go to the grocery store every other day and am cooking constantly. Teen slang has changed drastically and I had to learn new words to […]

The Musical Journey of Grief

Posted on April 6, 2010 - by David Roberts

Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember; music has always helped me navigate major transitions in my life. After the death of my daughter Jeannine in 2003 due to cancer, music helped me put words to her illness and the aftermath of her death. Later in my grief journey, music assisted me (and continues to assist me) in redefining myself due to my struggle with her physical absence. The lyrics and music of The Wallflowers, The Counting Crows, Jackson Browne and Tom Petty were very instrumental in my grief Journey. Figuratively, these […]

10 Years After Brother’s Suicide, Sister Remembers

Posted on April 5, 2010 - by admin

By Cindy My mom runs a website for suicide awareness and prevention, in memory of my brother Keith. I admire her for this. My mom believes that Keith’s spirit is communicated through butterflies, dragonflies and jet trail X’s in the sky. I love this about my mom. My mom has asked me to write something for her website many times. She used to ask me once a year to write something, every year around the time of Keith’s death. Finally she gave up and stopped asking, and I don’t blame her! The last time I wrote about Keith was shortly […]

Help Grieving Children Know They are Not Alone

Posted on April 3, 2010 - by Howard Winokuer

By Howard Winokuer, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, FT, and Heidi Horsley, Psy.D, LMSW, MS “What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” — Helen Keller The death of a child is traumatic. It often turns one’s life upside down and puts everything we ever believed into question. Regardless of the way a child dies, we are never prepared to lose them. As parents we do not expect to outlive our children, and as siblings, we just assume we will travel through life together and grow old together. Not only are […]

15 Recovery Promises to Make to Yourself

Posted on April 3, 2010 - by Harriet Hodgson

Until I lost four loved ones in 2007, I did not realize recovering from grief was a personal choice. The shock of multiple losses was so great I could hardly think. Two choices were open to me. I could stay stuck in grief and remain a victim, or I could create a new life for myself. I opted for the second choice. Early in my grief journey (surprisingly early) I began to think about recovery promises. My first promise: I will get through this. Brook Noel and Pamela D. Blair, PhD write about recovery in their book, I Wasn’t Ready […]

In Widowhood, What I Believe

Posted on April 2, 2010 - by Michele Neff Hernandez

Before my husband Phil died, I could have easily created a long list of my personal beliefs. This list would have included ideas about both the tangible and the intangible; broad concepts and specific ideals; God and mortal beings. There would probably even have been a mention of death and eternity…but only in the abstract because my beliefs about death were untested until August 31, 2005. The day I lost my husband was the same day that theory became reality, and faith became more than just a concept to which I paid lip service. Grief is the ultimate test of […]

Great Joys Among Great Sorrows

Posted on April 1, 2010 - by Louise Lagerman

I have just been sitting here thinking about life. It is so strange. Everyone who has lost a child has been through such great sorrows, but we have also been through great joys in our lives. There was a time after Keren died that I never thought I would feel joy again. I really didn’t for a long time. I was dead inside, empty and numb,but then after a while, a little bit of light started peaking its head into my life. So faint at first I couldn’t see it, it was barely there. I was so numb inside. But still it […]

Poem: A Gift of Sorrow

Posted on March 31, 2010 - by Deborah Tornillo

I close my eyes It all goes away. Today, tomorrow The sorrow. I open my eyes Rushes back in. Curse at my Lord I’ve committed a sin. If I keep them closed I hide within. Will he forgive me? I’ve cursed him. Open my eyes Accept tomorrow. The gift he’s given The sorrow. Deborah Ann Tornillo Copyright© 2010 http://www.deborahtornillo.com http://www.authorsden.com/dtornillo

Finding Spring Again After the Death of a Child

Posted on March 31, 2010 - by Cathy Seehuetter

We are finally at an end of what has often been a brutal winter. While gazing at the mountains of snow piled high in my front yard and the foot-long icicles hanging from my roof, it was hard to imagine that spring would ever come. We have endured bitter cold winds that have chilled us to the bone and treacherous roads that we have cautiously traveled. The days have been long and dark. No matter how long I have been a native of the Upper Midwest, I know we all will be glad when it comes to an end. However, as I described […]