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‘Crazy’ Grief Dreams Often the Most Profound

Posted on June 9, 2020 - by Lois Schaffer

Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life without them is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. — Langston Hughes. I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge – myth is more potent than history – dreams are more powerful than facts – hope always triumphs over experience – laughter is the cure for grief – love is stronger than death. — Robert Fulghum. Dreams reflect the essence of the innermost thoughts and feelings of the human soul. In some cases they seem to seem to involuntarily express deepened feelings after the death of a loved one. […]

Personal Growth and Trauma

Posted on June 8, 2020 - by Gloria Horsley

Trauma does create post-traumatic stress, but it also can lead to extraordinary personal growth. On today’s Facebook Live, Heidi and I explored this idea with Dr. Richard Tedeschi, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is also a licensed psychologist and helped originate the concept of post-traumatic growth (PTG), publishing many academic books and articles on the subject. Traumatic Times All of us go through trauma in our lives to varying degrees. It can be the loss of a loved one, a life-threatening illness, injury, or other issue that puts us in a place where […]

Relationships Make the Difference in Grief

Posted on June 5, 2020 - by Mary Jane Hurley Brant

Excerpted from When Every Day Matters: A Mother’s Memoir on Love, Loss and Life (Simple Abundance Press) on Amazon I always felt so close to my husband, Dick, as I observed him loving Katie, loving Richard, our son. He was never jealous of all the attention I gave to our kids right from the start. A wife can feel that; she knows the difference. As a couple we worried about Richard because his nature was sweet and sensitive and because the reality of our tie with Katie naturally meant that there was less time to focus on him. We did […]

Building Resilience Through Art

Posted on June 3, 2020 - by Elaine Voci

This is an excerpt from Resilience Art: A Grief Coloring Book Using Ritual and Music to Help You Grow by Elaine Voci, Ph.D. which is available on Amazon.com. I believe that we are hard-wired for coping with loss and that some of our coping requires simple, ordinary settings that help us find a path to healing. Among the most powerful are the natural settings in our world, such as parks, large bodies of water, green spaces, public fields of grass, trees, and flowers, inhabited by birds and other living creatures with whom we share this earth. The experiences of beauty […]

Death, Loss and Spiritual Growth

Posted on June 1, 2020 - by Gloria Horsley

Are you having a difficult time coping with the loss of a loved one during these traumatic times? Today, on Facebook Live, Heidi talked with Galen Goben, Grief Support Director for Forest Lawn Mortuary and an ordained minister, about the intersection between death, loss, and spiritual growth. What’s Changed? People feel stuck in their grief and angry at the inability to recognize their losses — COVID-19 or otherwise — over the last few months. Not being able to hug your friends and family and get that physical support has left so many feeling lonely. What’s Possible? While there are still […]

Living and Telling Your Own Story

Posted on May 30, 2020 - by Fran Gerstein

This is an excerpt from Grief From the Inside Out: Creating Meaning Around the Loss of a Child from Substance Abuse or Suicide, By Fran Gerstein, MSW, LCSW. It is available through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999563513/ GPS When I lost my child a small, quavering voice appeared— not quite mine, not quite not mine. It announced, through static, that I was being rerouted. I tried to follow the orange signs marked Detour but they led me to the edge of a cliff. Still trusting and obedient, I drove right off. When I regained consciousness, I lay there for months […]

Join Us for an International Day of Coping with Grief Event

Posted on May 29, 2020 - by Gloria Horsley

Today, on our Facebook Live discussion, Heidi and I talked about how to cope with the fact that all of the upcoming bereavement conferences have been cancelled due to the shelter-in-place mandates and the ongoing need to maintain a certain physical distance. In-Person Bereavement Conferences Cancelled We’re all sad that all the summer in-person bereavement conferences have been cancelled. This is the season for so many of them. It’s a time we all look forward to so we can connect with old friends, make new friends, and get hope from the hope and healing that’s part of the conference panels, […]

Do’s and Don’ts of Self-Care After the Loss of a Child

Posted on May 25, 2020 - by Fran Gerstein

This is an excerpt from Grief From the Inside Out: Creating Meaning Around the Loss of a Child from Substance Abuse or Suicide, By Fran Gerstein, MSW, LCSW. It is available through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999563513/ Do remind yourself that you are important Losing a child makes you feel empty and challenges your sense of purpose, especially if you have identified yourself first and foremost as a parent. Chances are there are many other people who need you, and things you have yet to accomplish. As you grieve, you must also focus on these future goals and keep them in mind. […]

No One Knows When Coronavirus Goes Away, But Don’t Lose Hope!

Posted on May 25, 2020 - by Jackie Keibler

As you know, the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has now spread to every continent. Watching a video clip of people in Wuhan where the epidemic vented, shouting “Wuhan fighting” together through my window, I was startled. In a certain aspect, besides the drastic prevention measures of experts, the preparation of mothers and wives in the purchase of food, medical supplies to protect family health, encouraging each other to keep the optimistic hope is also a way for people to fight this terrible pandemic. This story reminds me of a famous literary work of O. Henry. In the story “The Last Leaf”, […]

The Survival Instinct vs. Grief

Posted on May 25, 2020 - by Basia Mosinski

This excerpt is from LOST to FOUND: Surviving the Death of Your Child by Basia Mosinski. It is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1720222657 The survival instinct is strong but not stronger than grief. Many people in grief battle every day between holding on and letting go. The world feels like a crazy place. For a while it feels as though time is moving in slow motion while our minds are racing. Synchronicity grabbed my attention because it was the one thing that helped me feel connected to the eternal part of my being. If I could connect with that part of me, I could […]