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Holiday Heartbreak

Posted on November 26, 2006 - by admin

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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I’ll Be Home for Christmas-A Poem About the First Christmas Without My Father

Posted on November 25, 2006 - by admin

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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I Don’t Want To Do Christmas!

Posted on November 24, 2006 - by admin

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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Death From Cancer: A Poem About My Father

Posted on November 24, 2006 - by admin

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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Supporting Our Grieving Children To Cope with Katrina and Other Losses

Posted on November 24, 2006 - by admin

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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The Holiday Army

Posted on November 23, 2006 - by admin

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

Posted on November 23, 2006 - by Joy Johnson Brown

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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Open to hope

November 23, 2006 Thanksgiving Reflections Joy Johnson

Posted on November 23, 2006 - by admin

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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Open to hope

Grieving at Holiday Times

Posted on November 23, 2006 - by admin

As we approach the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays each year, our senses are heightened and memories of past celebrations flood our consciousness. Most of us can remember that, as children, we celebrated traditions with members of our extended family, many of whom we may have seen only at these joyous holiday times.

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The Empty Chair Around The Holiday Table

Posted on November 22, 2006 - by

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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