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Turkey Talks: Thanking the Man Who Comforted Brother

Posted on October 6, 2009 - by Scott Mastley

I gathered the courage to call the man who sat in the car with my brother while they waited for the ambulance to arrive. The man was a fireman, and he was off duty, painting a house to earn extra money, when he saw the accident. He jumped off of the ladder and rushed over to the car. He crawled inside the car and knocked out the windshield, because the driver was panicking and felt claustrophobic. The driver was my brother, Chris, and he died in the hospital about thirty minutes later from internal injuries. But while he waited for […]

Years After Son’s Suicide, Mother Lives in Peace and Joy

Posted on October 6, 2009 - by Pamela Prime

Sean died in the month of August. He was 16 years old, and he took his own life. He shot himself with his father’s hunting rifle. I never saw his body, but, in retrospect, I now know that it was for the best. I did not feel that way at the time. I begged to see him. My heart ached with an intense longing to touch him…just one last time. Those first months were a nightmare. Hell could not be worse! I do not recall our first Thanksgiving. As many memories as there are in my heart and mind, that first […]

News of Fathering Dead Infant Stirs Up Grief Thirty Years Later

Posted on October 5, 2009 - by Monica Novak

By Monica Novak – A reader (I’ll call her Lori) wrote in one day to say that her husband had been contacted by a woman he had dated nearly 30 years earlier. She told him she had broken up with him because she had been pregnant. She went on to deliver a premature baby who died after only an hour. Lori wanted to understand why, after all this time, the woman was contacting her husband. He had known nothing of the pregnancy all these years and now felt a great loss. Here is my response to Lori: Dear Lori, I […]

Using Laughter and Playfulness as an Antidote to Grief

Posted on October 5, 2009 - by Christa Scalies

I lost my close friend, Jim, to suicide in 2005. Instead of succumbing to the devastating pain, grief and guilt surrounding his death, I embarked on a journey of introspection, self-healing and giving to the community. As a self-proclaimed Giggle Coach, I am on a crusade to help people reclaim joy in their lives, or, as I say, get their Giggle On! In 2008, I created the web site GiggleOn.com as a tribute to my departed friend, Jim. I was looking for a positive outlet to honor him and our friendship, to cope with my pain, tell my story and deliver […]

Surviving the Holidays After a Loved One’s Death

Posted on October 5, 2009 - by Alice Wisler

That holiday-pang hit my stomach the first October after Daniel died. Greeting me at an arts and craft shop were gold and silver stockings, a Christmas tree draped with turquoise balls and a wreath of pinecones and red berries. What was this? And was “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” playing as well? It was only October. I had anticipated that Christmas and the holidays would be tough. In fact, I’d wake on those cold mornings after Daniel died in February and be grateful that it was still months until his August birthday and even more months until Christmas. I […]

Living in the NOW: Retaking Your Life After a Loved One’s Suicide

Posted on October 5, 2009 - by Jack Cain

That Sunday morning that I found Adam’s body in the car in the garage was the worst day of my life. The horror that is suicide produces a grief that is like no other. It is not like the lingering death from cancer. In spite of the fact that death from a heart attack is sudden and life-wrenching, it is not like suicide. Suicide is like an insult. It is sudden, yes, but it is an optional act. In the minds of the survivors, it didn’t need to happen. It was a choice and for that matter, an irrational choice. But […]

Strength Survives Losing a Child

Posted on October 4, 2009 - by Sandy Fox

by Sandy Fox Is there anything good that comes from losing a child? At first all you feel is excruciating heartache, ever present loneliness, deep emptiness, the old life gone forever, the future a blur, the person you loved most in the world gone forever, and you…changed forever. Nothing is ever the same again. You are a different person. Days, months, years may pass and you cope as best you can. And then…out of the depth of grief and despair, grows something remarkable. You begin to see others in the same situation; some of them just moving on one day […]

October: Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month

Posted on October 4, 2009 - by Monica Novak

In 1988, when President Ronald Reagan declared October to be Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, I was still in college, not yet married, and motherhood was a distant point in my future. The proclamation, even if I had heard about it, would have sailed right past my consciousness. Five years later, when I became a mother, if I had heard about the proclamation then, it might have caught my attention, but I wouldn’t have given it much thought. I hadn’t yet lost a baby during or after pregnancy, nor was I aware of anyone who had. Everything changed in […]

‘Grief Buddies’ Can Help You Cope

Posted on October 4, 2009 - by Harriet Hodgson

Whether it was anticipated or sudden, the death of a loved one is a traumatic experience. Two and a half years ago, my daughter died from the injuries she received in a car crash. Death was even more shocking when my father-in-law died two days later. In fact, we were so overcome with shock we started a buddy system. We were driving buddies. Driving can be dangerous when you’re grieving. When we needed to go to the store, church, or social event, my husband and I always drove together. One of us was the driver and the other was the […]

Moving Through Grief on Foot

Posted on October 3, 2009 - by Julie Lange

Grieving is a step-by-step journey. Some stretches of the road are rougher than others. But every step is important. Every step has its gifts.