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Where Are Resources for Young Widows?

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by admin

Question from Bob for author Gloria Lintermans: I am dating a 43-year-old widow with a 9-year-old daughter. Much of what you raise in your book, THE HEALING POWER OF GRIEF, transcends age, but I would love to read about younger widows. Do you know some books about younger widows? Or do you have some thoughts on issues that are more common among younger widows as compared to older widows? Gloria Lintermans responds: Dear Bob: Thank you for writing. The non-profit organization Young Widows or Widowers at http://www.ywow.org/ suggests several books written with the younger widow/widower in mind which you may find helpful. […]

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Company Prepares to Welcome Employee Back After Stillbirth

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Monica Novak

I received a call one day from Pat, the Share support group facilitator and perinatal bereavement coordinator at the local hospital, telling me that she and I had been invited to speak to one of the departments at a nearby corporation.  Diana, the manager who had contacted Pat, told her that one of her employees, a woman named Michelle, had recently delivered her firstborn — a stillborn daughter. Michelle was about to return to work after a six-week maternity leave. Not only was Michelle an employee, she was a dear friend of Diana’s and everyone else in the department.  They were […]

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Rethinking Home Hospice

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Sandra Pesmen

When my husband was near the end of his terminal illness, our Medicare nurse, who dropped in twice a week to check his vital signs, suggested we call our local Hospice center to set up Home Hospice.   I balked. I was afraid to face the reality that we were so close to the end. “That doesn’t mean it will happen right away,” she assured me. “They will just come in and make everyone comfortable for as long as necessary. Sometimes it’s six months, sometimes even a year, and they can even get an extension on that…” I was surprised, […]

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Grief Film Review: ‘Departures’

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Nancy Manahan & Becky Bohan

We recommend “Departures,” the 2009 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, currently in theaters. “Departures” is a moving, inspiring glimpse into Japan’s cultural heritage of caring for a body after death. When a young cellist loses his orchestra job, he and his wife move back to his hometown. He answers a classified ad for a company called “Departures,” thinking it’s a travel agency. He discovers, instead, that the job involves washing and casketing bodies. Daigo overcomes his initial horror and comes to love the reverential ceremonies, which are transformational for the families involved  .  .  .  and eventually for him […]

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Does Grief End? Mom Holds On While Letting Go

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Beth Seyda

After my infant son, Dylan, died I started jotting down various things and scenes I recalled from our experience.  I wanted to write about these memories not only to capture the details of Dylan’s life and death as a personal keepsake, but I also wanted to send it to our health care team.  I wanted them to learn from our experience.  Writing our story felt good, it was therapeutic for me. I wanted to share the parental aspects as well as the medical.  Writing allowed me to release all this “stuff”. Afterward, I felt different.  For a while I was […]

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Open to hope

How Does Early Death of Sister Affect Adult Siblings?

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by admin

Question from TK: My sister and I lost an infant sister in an accident when we were 2 and 5, respectively. Now, 40 years later, I’m struggling to understand how our sister’s death affected us. Outwardly, we are successful with loving spouses and children. Yet there is still a void. Sometimes I think it’s silly to wonder how an event that happened at the edge of our memories could affect our lives today – but when I think of how different our lives would be now if our sister hadn’t died, perhaps it’s a wonder it has not impacted our […]

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Should Daughter Protect Elderly Father From Bad Woman?

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by admin

Karen writes in with a question: Our mother passed away two years ago, and we have recently found out that our dad is dating again. My brothers and I do have an issue with him dating, but we have an issue with the character of person choice to date. How should my brothers and I handle our senior citizen father dating an acquaintance of his son’s that the entire family knows is a drug addict and a prostitute? Dr. Gloria Horsley, founder of Open to Hope, responds: Dear Karen, First let me say how sorry I am to hear of […]

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Does Grief End? Signs From Our Son in Heaven

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Guy Dusseault

Our son Billy crossed over to heaven on June 26, 2004, four days before his 29th birthday. Billy was killed instantly while riding his ATV at night, hitting a tree. My first goal was to try to survive the next day and make sure that my wife Jo-Anne and our other son, Robert, were OK. Beyond that, my goal was to find a way to make a connection with our son, Billy, in heaven. I had tried on my own in different ways for a few months without any success. That all changed when my wife Jo-Anne asked me if I […]

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The Physical Aspects of Loss

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Kirsti Dyer

People experience many losses in their lifetime. The most common loss is the death of a loved one, but people experience other losses e.g. loss of a relationship, loss of a job or loss of health. Most of these losses result in some type of a grief response. Grief is the entire body’s response to the loss–mind, body and spirit. A person grieving a loss may feel grief in many different ways–physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially and intellectually. He or she may experience a variety of body complaints that include: Fatigue Problems sleeping (insomnia) General aches and pain Backaches Stomach pains […]

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Does Grief End? Hearing the ‘Voice’ of My Father

Posted on August 21, 2009 - by Sheena Matos

When I was fifteen years old, my daddy passed away of a massive heart attack. I was at school and got called to the office to hear the most horrifying news of my life on the telephone. The voice on the other end was a lady co-worker of his; she told me he had dropped while at work. After falling to my knees, I broke into tears. I soon collected myself enough to call my momma and give her the news. Arriving at the hospital and seeing him on life support felt as if I were in a dream. How […]

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