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I Care and Wish You Comfort and Hope: A Mass Shooting Triggers Mother’s Response

Posted on May 7, 2018 - by Mary Jane Cronin

Valentine’s Day has forever been changed in my mind. No longer will I think of flowers, chocolates and the little hearts that say “I love you.” This year, a 19-year-old boy opened fire at a High school in Florida on Valentine’s Day, killing 17 teenagers. These recent shootings are unfortunately nothing new; in 1999, in Columbine, Colorado, two seniors killed 12 of their fellow students. One year earlier in 1998, I received a 2 am phone call, a call that no mother wants to receive. My 16-year-old son had been shot by someone he knew. Immediately, I thought to myself: Should I have said no […]

Every Single Breath

Posted on May 7, 2018 - by Tambre Leighn

The 17th anniversary of my husband’s passing was on my mind in the days leading up to it. Some years, it slipped by me without much notice. Other years, the day brought me to my knees and threatened to be the undoing of me. Grief is like that. This year, I saw it coming. Ticking and tocking it’s way ever closer. How do I want to honor my late husband this year? This is the question I often ask myself. But this year, a dear friend had a different question for me. “What’s one cherished moment you’d like to share […]

My Big Widow Regret: Find Your Tribe

Posted on May 7, 2018 - by Kerry Phillips

At 32 years old, instead of planning my first wedding anniversary celebration, I was planning my husband’s funeral. There were no warnings, no time to say a final goodbye. One day he was here and by the following morning, he was gone. It’s been six years since that fateful day when my world collapsed around me. Some days I marvel at the person I have become post-loss and other days I feel saddened by the person I have become as a result of widowhood. As fiercely independent as I now am, I miss the naivety of my old life, where […]

Death and Rebirth: Making a Home in Your Heart

Posted on May 7, 2018 - by Nina Impala

One of my favorite quotes about the grief journey comes from Rumi, a 13th century theologian and poet: Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life’s search for love and wisdom. I live next to a beautiful and very large cemetery that is more like a park than a cemetery; the grounds are meant to be park-like, no large headstones and the most gorgeous trees. People come to this cemetery for its museums, churches, gorgeous fountains, beautiful meditation gardens and statues. I walk in […]

Bitter or Better – A Choice

Posted on May 3, 2018 - by Harriet Cabelly

I have always been fascinated by how people deal with loss and adversity. I am continuously inspired by those who can go beyond their pain and live engaged, productive and meaningful lives. Therein lies the challenge: how to rebuild a live filled with meaning and joy despite loss and pain. Since we all know that inherent in life and the human condition is loss, the key is not in how to get through life without any pain, but rather, when pain and suffering come knocking on our door, how do we respond to it? Do we succumb and become […]

The Weaving of Love and Loss

Posted on May 3, 2018 - by Mary Jane Hurley Brant

When we open ourselves up to love, we open ourselves up to loss. That is why loss hurts so much – it’s connected to the greatest mystery of all: love. So it’s understandable that the deeper the love we felt for someone the deeper pain goes when they die and leave us. The death of a loved one shocks us physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. After those first four hits, grief arrives and is quickly followed by the mourning process. This process of grieving and mourning a loss is found across cultures. What does that mean? It means that […]

Grief Gift: How a Friend Can Help

Posted on May 3, 2018 - by Jane P. Williams

Our overwhelming feelings of loss during grief often make any grief gift hard to imagine. We search our inner world and wonder how we will put the pieces back together. What can possibly bring us any feeling of gratitude? Suddenly, our thoughts turn to our friend — the person who is with us, fully present, right now. This person can focus solely on our grief with no preoccupation or telling of his or her own suffering. Our comforter offers no platitudes and simply recognizes our need to be heard. We can tell our grief story over and over and our […]

Say What?! The Outrageous Things People Say to Grievers

Posted on April 23, 2018 - by Brenda Tobias

I used to keep a list of the most outrageous things people said to me regarding my husband’s death. At some point I stopped, realizing that it was not exactly the kind of collection I coveted. People say stupid things. I know I have. When it comes to grief and loss, we can all be a bumbling stumbling fount of misfires. Grief scares people right down to the core. Don’t even get me started on death…geez, the lengths we go to to avoid it! Grief and loss are just too radioactive to some. I can now laugh at my […]

Life After Loss the Afterwards

Posted on April 23, 2018 - by Laurel D. Rund

On February 11th, 2018 it was nine years since my husband, Marty, passed away. I saw a post on Instagram the other day which took my breath away because the words define “the afterwards” of life after loss. Ode to The Afterwards “Grief is not a task to finish and move on, but an element of yourself. An alteration of your being. A new way seeing. A new definition of self.” Up until the last year of my husband Marty’s life, I had been working as a businesswoman in the corporate world. Luckily, the Universe handed me the gift […]

Trauma/Heal The Body

Posted on April 17, 2018 - by Heidi Horsley

In episode 48, Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley interview Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma. They also speak with Dr. Lyn Prashant, PhD, who uses yoga and massage in conjunction with her certification in grief counseling to holistically help heal the body after a trauma or loss in her Integrative Grief Therapy practice. Dr. van der Kolk explains that it’s not just fight vs. flight, but also elements of freeze and give up when the body faces a trauma. There comes a point when the body/mind […]