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To Recover From Multiple Losses, Create New Meaning in Life

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Harriet Hodgson

Multiple losses have been the biggest challenge of my life. In February of 2007 my daughter died from the injuries she received in a car crash. Two days later my father-in-law died of pneumonia. Then, just eight weeks later, my brother died of a heart attack. Six months after his death, my former son-in-law died from the injuries he received in another car crash. His death made my twin grandchildren orphans and my husband and I GRGs, grandparents raising grandchildren. Somehow, I had to summon the courage to grieve and raise my grandchildren. There was no time for denial, a […]

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The Empty Office: Death of a Boss

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Carrie Pike

By Carrie Pike — When you start working after high school, you are not necessarily pursuing a career. I started working for a large insurance company right out of high school. That began me on a path to important life lessons as I served as personal assistant to the VP of Sales. I was lucky to have a wonderful boss that knew when I was at my limit. He said he could see it in my eyes when I was too stressed. That’s when he would step in and make me take a break or tell me to go home. He was […]

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Children React to a Divorce Much Like They Do to a Death

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Suzy Yehl Marta

Note: After my husband and I divorced, I was so overwhelmed with my grief that I didn’t notice that my three boys were hurting too.  I learned that kids aren’t resilient, as so many people say, and I knew I had to look for ways to help them.  Following is an excerpt from my book, Healing the Hurt, Restoring the Hope.  I founded Rainbows For All Children, Inc., more than 26 years ago to help youth all over the world who are suffering and grieving from the death of a parent or divorce. My Personal Journey “Don’t worry about the […]

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Giving Back to Friends Who Helped You Grieve

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by admin

Grief is isolating.  You may become so isolated that you are barely aware of your friends’ help.  Sure, you remember their phone calls and sympathy cards, but you may not see the scope of their caring.  As I discovered, the support of friends is necessary for grief reconciliation. On a Friday night in February of 2007, my elder daughter died from the injuries she received in a car crash.  On Sunday, just two days later, my father-in-law succumbed to pneumonia.  I sobbed when I saw their photos on the same page of the newspaper.  Friends saw the photos, read the […]

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Does Grief End? Being Available for ‘Turning Points’

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Pamela Prime

After my son’s death, there were many turning points along the way in my grief. I could not make them happen all by myself, but I could make myself available.  At each turning point, there was a sense of Divine Grace; it was only in quiet reflection or in sharing the experience with a good listener that I could say “thank you.” I remember well the first time I could look at my son’s picture without breaking down in sobs.  His suicide was shocking, terrifying and beyond heart-breaking. That memorable day, I sat on our sofa and looked at a photograph of his […]

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Does Grief End? Turning the Corner Takes Work, Faith, Patience

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Sharon Greenlee

People who come for grief therapy often ask, “How long does this sadness last?” “Does it ever get better?”  “Will I ever wake up some morning and feel something different than what I’m feeling now?”  Though the questions are usually the same, the answers are not! I have learned from listening to others and from working through my own grief experiences, that length of grief time, changes in feelings, and turning the grief corners not only vary from person to person, but also vary for a single individual, depending upon the grief situation. After the death of my mother, as an eleven-year-old, I was stuck […]

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What’s Wrong With My Underwear? Adjusting to Aging and Grieving

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Stan Goldberg

I was rummaging around in a kitchen cabinet while my wife was in the living room. Since both of us have hearing problems, when we speak to each other in different rooms, our conversations can become the basis for a sit-com on aging. “Is that old wok under here?” I asked. Wendy came into the kitchen looking bewildered and said, “Why do you think something’s wrong with my underwear?” But what if we couldn’t laugh at our miscommunications as something that injects humor into our lives? What if I became angry because I thought my wife didn’t listen closely enough? […]

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Growing Through Grief

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Fran Dorf

Around 1:30 in the afternoon, Dec. 7, 1993 – by coincidence, Pearl Harbor Day – I put my three-year-old son, Michael, down for his nap, went to my office, turned on the intercom, and began to work on my third novel. The intercom was silent, and I wrote steadily. Around 4 p.m., mildly concerned that Mikey was sleeping too long, I went to wake him up. I found him in the midst of a silent, deadly seizure.  I started to scream, my husband came running, and although we didn’t really know it then, we had arrived with our baggage at […]

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Grandmother Wants to Commemorate Deceased Grandson’s Birthday

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by admin

Deborah writes in: My infant grandson passed away on the day of his birth, and the anniversary is coming. Do you have any suggestions on how to celebrate this day? Mom and Dad are sooo sad.  Thank you for your help. Monica Novak, author of The Good Grief Club, responds: Dear Deborah: I am so very sorry for the loss of your grandson.  The year following the death of a baby takes a family through such a wide range of emotions, often culminating on the first anniversary of that death, that it can be difficult to decide how to spend the […]

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Caregivers Struggle When Parents Age

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by admin

Most families of our generation don’t talk much about feelings, but when our parent is aging or ill, many emotional issues arise for both the primary caregiver and for other family members. It can be a very challenging time for everyone. My neighbor recently experienced this when her mother in New York state broke her hip in a fall. She and her siblings had very different emotional reactions to the crisis. Some were “too busy” to help while others implied that they couldn’t cope. Kathy was the adult child who was able and willing to take charge of the situation,  […]

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