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Celebrating the Celebrity – Recognizing Our Own Power

Posted on June 27, 2009 - by Anne Hamilton

By Anne Hamilton, M.F.A. I was saddened by the news of Michael Jackson’s sudden death on June 25th. We were kids together. We grew up together. We both sang and danced little routines, and had dreams of becoming a star. Of course, his dreams came true and he became an international star – but he took me along for the ride somehow, anyway. This is why I feel sad and have taken some moments to grieve. I grieve first for my own lack of success, in a way, and also that his genius was lost way too soon. Michael Jackson […]

Learn to Die and You Will Learn to Live

Posted on June 27, 2009 - by Stan Goldberg

By Stan Goldberg — My life is tethered to a number that few people have ever heard of: a Gleason score of 7. It’s a measure of prostate cancer severity that ranges from a forgettable 1 to a terminal 9. My lucky 7 places me on the cusp of living and dying. Not a particularly comfortable neighborhood to take up residence, but one in which I’m forced to live. During the operation to remove the prostate, my surgeon found that the cancer spread beyond the prostate gland and into one of the lymph nodes. Three weeks after the operation we […]

Helping Grandchildren with Pet Loss

Posted on June 26, 2009 - by Marty Tousley

By – Marty Tousley, RN, MS, FT, DCC Question: I very sadly had to euthanize my wonderful dog of 8 years last night. She has been with me with so many other losses and helped me through. Now here I am and at a loss without her. I am having a terrible time but am contacting you to help with my two grandchildren, who are ages 6 and 3. They live across the street and have grown up with our Great Dane Suzanna, and I am at a loss as to what to say to them that they will understand. They […]

Common Myths and Misconceptions about the Loss of a Cherished Pet

Posted on June 26, 2009 - by Cori Bussolari

by – Marty Tousley, CNS-BC, FT COMMON MYTHS ABOUT THE LOSS OF PETS: There is nothing special about the relationship between animals and humans. Your relationship with a companion animal can be just as special and loving as those you have with any other family member or close friend. Loving an animal is different from loving a human being, because a pet loves you in a way that people cannot: profoundly, boundlessly and unconditionally. Losing an animal is less painful and less significant than losing a human loved one. Pain over the loss of a beloved companion animal is as […]

Celebrities Get Attention, But Were They Loved?

Posted on June 26, 2009 - by Alice Wisler

When I heard of Michael Jackson’s death, I felt a wave of confused sadness. Immediately, I was flooded with memories of hearing his music in Japan, where I was raised. The teenie-bopper magazines sent to us from the U.S. held photos and stories about his life as one of the Jackson Five. My friend Josephine and I absorbed these when we had sleepovers. Years later, I watched his “Thriller” video over and over, captivated by his talent. In the mid-80s, when I worked at a refugee camp in The Philippines, the Vietnamese kids would blast his music through a cassette […]

Why Do We Grieve Over a Celebrity’s Death?

Posted on June 26, 2009 - by Coralease Ruff

By Coralease Ruff — We react so strongly to the death of public figures like Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Princess Diana, whom we do not know personally, primarily because we feel as if we know them. On some level, perhaps we do know them because we may see them often, read about them, listen to their music, view their films as well as follow their life events. In the case of Michael Jackson, I began listening to his music in the early days when he and his brothers first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and have followed him […]

Farrah, Michael, Bonnie, and Denise

Posted on June 26, 2009 - by Michelle L. Rusk

By Michelle Linn-Gust — When I found out that Farrah Fawcett had anal cancer, I was taken back to the cancer of my friend, Bonnie, who died 3 1/2 years ago. I was with Bonnie almost every day, as long as I was in town, until her death a few months later. Today is my 10th wedding anniversary and it was Bonnie who sewed my wedding dress. Bonnie had the same cancer as Farrah. I had a Farrah haircut in fifth grade and my older sister was a big “Charlie’s Angels” fan. My cousins had a gerbil named Farrah. Farrah […]

Celebrity Deaths Remind Us of Our Mortality

Posted on June 26, 2009 - by Richard Beck

By Richard Beck — When Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died, many people, myself included, were deeply saddened. How do we begin to make sense of grieving the deaths of celebrities, many of whom we have never met in our lifetimes in person? There are many layers to the experience of such loss and grieving. First, in my mind, is that these are people whose lives don’t follow the normal physical of us “mortals.” Then again, they are mortal, perhaps even more vulnerable than folks not in the public eye because of the scrutiny that their lives undergo. I remember […]

Man Alive for Nearly 40 Years With Donated Organs

Posted on June 26, 2009 - by admin

By Ken Trachy In 1972, suffering from end-stage kidney failure, I received a kidney transplant at the University of Minnesota. This had followed two years of debilitating disease and feelings of desperation and hopelessness. After learning of my diagnosis, my father said to a friend of mine, “Kenny won’t live to see 30.” Disconsolate, I urged the woman with whom I had shared a three-year relationship to marry me, thinking it would be preferable she be left a widow rather than a girlfriend. It was the paralyzing fear of death that was pervasive in my life, and that preoccupied all […]

Helping Your Child Cope With Loss

Posted on June 25, 2009 - by Lauren Littauer Briggs

By Lauren Littauer Briggs — By the time I was eight, my first brother had died and my second was diagnosed with the same fatal condition. My great-grandmother had died, but I wasn’t allowed at the funeral. Instead, I peeked through the heating ducts to watch what was going on. My dog was given away with little explanation and my second brother was placed in a children’s home where he could receive the medical attention he needed. I never saw him again. My loss experience was more extreme than many and remained a dominant theme throughout my childhood. The usual […]