Are you a step-parent, parent, sibling, grandparent or friend of a deceased person? Then this book is for you! A delicately written and moving piece of work that is electrically charged with Katlyn Stewart?s love and grief for her daughter. Join in the celebration of life through Katlyn?s tale recounting her daughter?s life and learn about the grieving process.
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It is the season to be jolly, as all the songs and magazine articles will tell you,but for some of us that is not how we feel. Family is the most important part of the Christmas season, the laughter,the visits of far away relatives,the children with their games and of course,last, but not least, the Turkey!! I remember many happy holiday times when all my family were gathered together to celebrate this wondrous season,we would share family stories,look at old photographs,play silly games and just revel in being together.
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This poem speaks for itself. It was written during the Christmas season just before the one-year anniversary of my father’s death. Though a bit sad, it does remind us of what is truly important in life. I?ll be home for Christmas, or so the story goes, is repeated year after year. Regardless of weather or holiday traffic, you?ll find your way home clean and clear. Christmas is one of the times we?re together, we smile and we talk and we eat.
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Marianne sat on the edge of her seat, leaning towards me and, through her sobs and hiccoughs, stated very clearly, ?I don?t want to do Christmas!? ?I can?t, I just can?t.? Marianne was one of my clients, a middle-aged woman whose husband had died the previous year. She had gone through the first holiday season, one year ago, in a state of numbness after the unexpected death of her husband in November.
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My father died from lung cancer on January third, 2005. After entering a nursing facility for rehab, we soon discovered that he had stage four small-cell lung cancer. He lived for three and one-half weeks after his diagnosis. While January third never had any signficance before, it now holds signficance for me that I would never have imagined. The words to the poem describe how one often feels about the anniversary of a person’s death.
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Children may feel the same feelings when they grieve as adults, yet their responses can be very different. In addition, every day through the media, images of death, loss, grief and violence are presented to not only adult eyes, but also the vulnerable eyes and hearts of our children. Adults barely have the tools and experience to process what they see intellectually and emotionally. Imagine how the younger and more vulnerable among us deal with this!
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Here it comes again ? the Holiday Army ? in its annual march against us. Some of its generals are called “Thanksgiving,” “Christmas,” “Hanukah,” “New Year?s Eve” and “New Year?s Day.” They are no respecters of the heartbroken and emotionally wounded, and their troops are merciless. They take no prisoners! They demand that we participate in their joy and nostalgia or they will mow us down with their militant tanks of holiday spirit.
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NOVEMBER 23, 2006 – THANKSGIVING REFLECTIONS:? JOY JOHNSON has written or edited more than 150 books on grief.? She is co-founder, along with her husband, Dr. Marvin Johnson, of Centering Corporation and Ted E. Bear Hollow, a center for grieving children. Centering Corporation, has received the TCF Professional award, and is North America?s oldest and largest bereavement resource center.? Centering is also the official bookstore for The Compassionate Friends.? Her compassion and understanding have touched many lives. Join us for a discussion of traditions, memories, and challenges of Thanksgiving Day without that special person.? http://www.centeringcorp.com/catalog/ and http://www.tedebearhollow.org/
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Many Americans will be sitting down together around the dinner table very soon, to celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanza. These dinners re-enforce a sense of shared family values, a feeling that all is right with the world as long as we can be together at holiday time. But the truth is, all may not be in order at the holiday table. There will be empty chairs this year, chairs that were filled last year with our beloved parents or grandparents or close friends, those who have died and gone on to their next journey. We will look around and those
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Pam: Life Beyond Death; Joy Beyond Grief By Christy Lowry Publication Consultants (2000) Reviewed by Beverly Pechin for Reader Views (1/06) When I first read the book’s cover, telling the true story of a family’s dealing with the loss of a 13 year old daughter/sister I simply didn’t know if I COULD read the entire story. I was expecting a story of horror, sorrow, and pain. Instead, what I got was a story of faith, love, and in the end, happiness. While some sadness was evident in the beginning of the story, losing a child is traumatic and painful for […]
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Open to Hope is an online community offering inspirational stories of loss, hope and recovery. We believe hope is the bridge between loss and recovery.
