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An Epiphany in Old San Juan

Posted on March 28, 2010 - by Mitch Carmody

Puerto Rico is the best kept secret in the world and where Bienvenidos truly means “welcome” in every sense of the word. The Puerto Rican people are warm, friendly and passionate. They not only embrace you with their arms and generous kisses, but with their compassionate heart. The island is only 35 miles wide by 100 miles long yet is home to over 4 million people, a country approximately the size and population of Connecticut. Although predominantly middle class, there are some caches of illegal aliens and drug lords spurred by our recession which contributes to nearly 1000 murders per year, […]

Looking Through the Window: A View of ‘Home’

Posted on March 26, 2010 - by Claire Perkins

It is the summer of 2007. At eighty-five years old, my mother is in the hospital for the second time in as many weeks. She is weak and tired and more than a little frightened. At the age of eighty, her kidneys failed. She’s been a dialysis patient for five years now, and while it’s given her new life it has also been hard on her body and spirit. Heart problems, pneumonia and now a GI bleed have required these most recent hospitalizations. She lies in her hospital bed looking out the small window. The angle of the bed is […]

Death of ‘Neon Man’ Inspires Friend to Help Others

Posted on March 25, 2010 - by Slash Coleman

In 2004, I got a call that my best friend died. Mark Jamison was a neon artist from Roanoke, Virginia, who was electrocuted after he was blown into a power line while hanging a neon sign. He was only 35. A month after he died, his girlfriend discovered she was pregnant. Mark and I had been friends for nearly 18 years. We met in a jazz band in college. Toured around with the band for a few years afterward and then, for the next decade, I traveled around the world looking for answers and he stayed in Roanoke, opened up a neon shop and looked […]

Poem: A Blind Eye

Posted on March 24, 2010 - by Deborah Tornillo

Can I turn a blind eye? Say to myself “It is what it is” or Turn a face of denial? I can turn it on Right or wrong. Trying to stay strong For however long. Torment, a reality Eats away at the core Continue to pray, Pray to My Lord. Can I turn a blind eye? Say to myself “Yes I can” I’m in denial. Lord, do you feel me? My broken heart It hurts. Torn, torn apart. Deborah Ann Tornillo Author, 36 Days Apart Copyright© 2010 http://www.deborahtornillo.com

Man Writes Poetry as Medicine for Grief

Posted on March 24, 2010 - by Kathryn Williams Raths

Ed Gray of Howell, Michigan, is reaching out to others by sharing his story, a bereavement story of both sadness and triumph. He lost his parents and his wife in just over one year’s time. His mother grew tired fighting a 37-year battle with breast cancer and stopped her treatment. His father died about four months later. Ed’s wife fought Lou Gehrig’s disease for nearly three years before she died. Ed described this painful period, “It was an intense time caring for all three; I focused most attention to the one closest to death at the time; first Mom, then Dad, […]

Poem: A Struggle Within

Posted on March 23, 2010 - by Deborah Tornillo

Fall of 2007 He opened the Gates of Heaven. He took them By their hand. To a Promised Land. He showed them A shining light. An Eternal Life. Spring of 2010 Still struggling and Missing them. In this distant land He promised to Hold my hand. Still struggling and Missing them. A struggle within. Deborah Ann Tornillo Author, 36 Days Apart Copyright© 2010 http://www.deborahtornillo.com

Grief Study for Those Who Lost Parent in Childhood

Posted on March 23, 2010 - by admin

If you lost a parent between the ages of 3-17 and are now over the age of 18, you are eligible for a one-time paid group interview in New York. Contact rabinow@gmail.com for more details. Jessica Rabinow, M.S. Doctoral Candidate, 2011 Long Island University Clinical Psychology 847 404 0772

Stuffing Emotions Isn’t a Good Grief Strategy

Posted on March 23, 2010 - by Steve Harris

When we’ve lost someone we love, grief is a journey we can’t avoid. But that doesn’t stop many of us (particularly men) from trying. Perhaps we’re afraid that such intense emotions will overwhelm us. Or maybe we hope that if we pretend to be okay, that fantasy will somehow come true. While mourning the loss of my wife, intense waves of sadness would often crash down upon me, threatening to wash me away. A photograph, a song on the radio, a fragrance, a random thought… the triggers were everywhere. I wanted to shelter myself from these emotional tsunamis and I […]

A Fresh Loss, New Lessons

Posted on March 22, 2010 - by Ellen Besso

“There are no random acts…We are all connected…You can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind…” – Mitch Albom It’s true…I feel it, you feel it…we are all connected. As human beings, we feel each other’s pain. Because of this we are able to pull together when necessary, when someone is ill or dying, to show our caring. We can do this in many ways, by sitting with the person, checking in with them by telephone, or by doing the practical things, the small “labors of love” like cooking and laundry. […]

Self-Torture Legacy for Many Grieving Suicide

Posted on March 22, 2010 - by Alex James

Families and loved ones of those who choose to end their own lives are all faced with the unanswerable question, Why? We may assume that for those families where the deceased left a note, the answer to that question is obvious. But in my experience working with the surviving loved ones of suicide, notes usually serve to add to the feelings of failure and guilt. Survivors think they should have known, could have done something, might have prevented it. Self torture is the legacy bestowed on those left to grieve. The suicide of their loved one may be felt as a reflection on them, a sign of […]