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How to Turn Grief into Joy

Posted on December 4, 2006 - by admin

I was with my daddy when he died. Excuse me, I was with my daddy when his spirit left his body. I drove him to the emergency room because he was having chest pains. He said that they weren?t too bad, and his color was good. He was still walking. In fact, Daddy walked into the cubicle in the ER and hopped up on the gurney. Almost as quickly, he hopped off saying, ?Whew, doggie! Feels like somebody?s got a knife in my back, right between my shoulder blades.? Daddy said it with a great big grin on his face. […]

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Christmas Mourning

Posted on December 3, 2006 - by admin

Deecember is a cruel month. Christmas sales, decorations, advertisements -everyone seems so happy and cheerful – it’s easy to feel alone. It’s precisely at these happy times that the loss of our loved one can be felt the strongest. We remember only too well who is missing. Whether our loss was recent or whether it occurred many years ago, we are constantly surrounded by sights and sounds that trigger memories of holidays past, and wracked with dreams of what might have been. Holidays involve expectations about getting together with

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Grief Quotes: Surviving a Sibling: Scott Mastley

Posted on December 2, 2006 - by admin

Scott Mastley: It didn?t hit me immediately, but after a while, it kind of came to me that I was an only child and that eventually I was going to be older than my older brother and that was a pretty weird situation where I remember the day, actually, when I lived longer than he did and I still look at the pictures and even now, I feel like he looked older than I do now which I?m sure is not the case, but it just feels that way. He?s always going to feel like my older brother. Scott Mastley: […]

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Grief Quotes: Grief and Your Health: Dr. Coralease Ruff

Posted on December 2, 2006 - by Coralease Ruff

Dr. Coralease Ruff: What I always say to people about those feelings of regret, sometimes if you write a letter to them expressing those feelings of regret, at least sometimes that can help, because they do wish they had gone to the scene of the accident or gone to view the remains. Because just the loss itself, the death itself is stressful and then, of course, having those other regrets and feelings of guilt increases the stress. Dr. Coralease Ruff: You?ve got that adrenalin flowing so you?re constantly in motion, your body is secreting all these stress hormones. You can?t […]

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The Grief And Belief Connection

Posted on December 2, 2006 - by

“Grief is healing: To take away our grief is to take away our healing. And learning about life after death helps us heal with greater hope, comfort and peace.” ~ Bob Olson In approximately five years of investigating the possibility of life after death, I have discovered convincing evidence that there really is an afterlife, that we really do continue to exist after death, and that our loved ones continue to watch over us and guide us in the spirit world. But this is just the beginning of my discoveries.

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Open to hope

The Grief And Belief Connection

Posted on December 2, 2006 - by admin

“Grief is healing: To take away our grief is to take away our healing. And learning about life after death helps us heal with greater hope, comfort and peace.” ~ Bob Olson In approximately five years of investigating the possibility of life after death, I have discovered convincing evidence that there really is an afterlife, that we really do continue to exist after death, and that our loved ones continue to watch over us and guide us in the spirit world. But this is just the beginning of my discoveries.

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Dakota Winds: Planting Seeds of Hope

Posted on December 2, 2006 - by admin

Thank you for the opportunity to share my experience with the IPPC (Initiative for Pediatric Palliative Care) retreat led by Deborah Dokken, your guest on Thursday. I am the parent of Dakota, an adorable “old soul” who was diagnosed with cancer at two and died one week before he turned five. That was ten years ago. In those ten years, our family has turned our pain into a passion to help others who also find themselves suffering the loss of a loved one. When Dakota died, my husband wanted to buy our two year old son, Dylan, a gift to […]

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How to Respond to the Bereaved

Posted on December 1, 2006 - by admin

Last week, I visited my 81 year old widowed Aunt following the death of her boyfriend, also age 81. She was expectedly quite distressed following his sudden death from heart failure. In spite of having been widowed for over 20 years, and having three children and grandchildren and lots of friends, she felt very alone. She reminded me that even at age 81, she still needed to be held and loved and neither her children nor grandchildren could fill that role in quite the same way.

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November 30, 2006 From Parent to Advocate: A Long Day’s Journey Deborah Dokken

Posted on November 30, 2006 - by admin

NOVEMBER 30, 2006 – FROM PARENT TO ADVOCATE: LONG DAYS’ JOURNEY:? DEBORAH DOKKEN.? After the loss of two infants and the premature birth of her son Jeremy, Deborah Dokken became involved in programs enhancing family participation in health care. She is co-investigator for The Initiative for Pediatric Palliative Care, a national education and quality improvement project.? She currently serves on the FDA’s Pediatric Advisory Committee, and is a longtime member of the Ethics Forum at Children’s National Medical Center.? She is the recipient of the Pediatric Nursing’s 2003 Humanitarian and 1998 Excellence in Writing Awards.? http://www.ippcweb.org/ Deborah Dokken:? I didn’t […]

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Healing the Grieving Heart National Radio Show Welcomes End of Life Care Expert Deborah Dokken

Posted on November 30, 2006 - by admin

Recipient of 2003 Pediatric Nursing?s Humanitarian Award to be interviews by ?Healing the Grieving Heart? Hosts, Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley on November 30, 2006. New York, New York and San Francisco, California (PRWEB) November 26, 2006 ? Deborah Dokken, MPA, co-investigator with The Initiative for Pediatric Palliative Care (IPPC) will join Drs. Gloria & Heidi Horsley on their nationally syndicated talk radio program ?Healing the Grieving Heart? November 30th, 9 AM PST/12 Noon EST. ?End of life care and anticipatory grief are so important to our audience. You can?t ever really prepare for losing a child, but you can […]

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