We’ll Celebrate Her Life; We’ll Sing

    When the doctor in the emergency room asked Dad, “How long has your daughter been drinking?", it broke his heart and it made him mad. “You don’t know this girl,” he said. "You don’t know my daughter.” After Jilly died on July 3, 2014, Dad and I talked on the phone nearly every day for weeks. I swear we were going through the stages of grief together—on the phone—crying and laughing and trying to understand, which was the hardest part.…

    What No One Ever Told Me About Grief

    Last Valentine’s—that rose-scented, chocolate-infused day, God reached a hand down, scooped my brother’s soul in his Godly palm without asking if we were ready, if Rocky was ready, to transition from this world into the next. He was plucked from our lives without any warning at all, leaving a jagged hole in our wholeness, sending tremors through our family while hairline cracks mushroomed through our “ROCK” solid foundation. The past nine months have crawled by in a blurry, non-linear haze.…

    My Brother, My Best Friend

    Alison Smith, author of Name All the Animals: A Memoir, opens up about her brother and best friend today with Dr. Gloria Horsley and Dr. Heidi Horsley. Enjoy the full interview: G:        Hello.  I’m Dr. Gloria Horsley with my co-host H:        Dr. Heidi Horsley. G:        Each week we welcome you to Healing the Grieving Heart, a show of hope and conversation with those who have suffered the loss of a loved one and for health care professionals who work in this…

    When it’s Grief, Not Depression

    One sleepless night, I tiptoed down the stairs, slipped outside and stared up at the low-hanging moon, so close to me it looked as if it had been pinned against the black canvas with a thumb tack. I reached out a hand to snatch if from the sky, tuck it inside my heart, feel its warm steady glow burn through my body, filling the empty places my brother’s death left behind. Perhaps I’d be able float, or fly into the…

    Peanut Gallery, a Documentary: Interview with Molly Gandour

    At the annual ADEC (Association of Death Education and Counseling) conference, I spoke with Molly Gandour about her documentary 'Peanut Gallery'. Her film explores the death of her sister and how she and her parents just recently learned to talk about it. Molly went home to Indiana a few years ago, where she grew up, to speak with her parents for the first time about the death of her sister. Molly was just 10 years old when her sister died,…

    Adult Sibling Loss: Interview with Dr. Brenda Marshall

    At the annual ADEC (Association of Death Education and Counseling), I spoke with Dr. Brenda Marshall about adult sibling loss. Brenda got into this field when her younger brother Brent died eight years ago. It was then that she realized there's not very much support for siblings. That realization called on her to ask the question "Why?" and "What can I do about it?" I asked Brenda why she thinks people don't understand how significant a sibling loss is. Hear…

    My Sister Died and I Waited 16 Years to Deal With It

    I never expected to make a documentary film about my family. I didn’t think of myself as someone who had a story to tell. My sister had died when I was ten years old and by that time her illness seemed pretty normal to me. Aimee was diagnosed with leukemia when I was two years old, so I grew up always knowing my older sister was sick. One of my earliest memories is playing with the toys in the hospital…

    Ministry of Bereavement: Interview with Ronald Ritter

    Today, we had the privilege to interview Ron Ritter about a very basic tool that will assist people of faith to minister intelligently and effectively to those who grieve. The turning point for Ritter was when the shackles of clinical depression were removed five years after his son Steve's death when he could focus his full energies into the ministry of bereavement. Here is the full interview: Ron Ritter was born the 7 September 1938. Born and Raised in Baltimore,…

    When the Mirror Breaks

    “Siblings are the only relatives, and perhaps the only people you’ll ever know, who are with you through the entire arc of your life…Your parents leave you too soon and your kids and spouse come along late, but your siblings know you when you are in your most inchoate form.”  - writer Jeffrey Kluger observed to Salon in 2011, the year his book “The Sibling Effect” was published. My brother Andy was more than a sibling, he was my twin.  We weren’t…

    When the Mirror Breaks: Loss of a Close Sibling

    “Siblings are the only relatives, and perhaps the only people you’ll ever know, who are with you through the entire arc of your life…Your parents leave you too soon and your kids and spouse come along late, but your siblings know you when you are in your most inchoate form.” - writer Jeffrey Kluger observed to Salon in 2011, the year his book “The Sibling Effect” was published. My brother Andy was more than a sibling, he was my twin.…