One of the great things that my dad taught me is that it is always better to give than receive, that to give unconditionally brings true happiness in life.That lesson has stuck with me. I volunteer …

Holidays and other special days are times that we miss our loved ones more acutely.  It is these family gatherings where everyone is joyful that make the void feel more enormous.  
After suffering through my first …

Christmas has ended, and the living room still has that unwrapped look. With the festivities now part of future memories, I anticipate the next hurdle: the start of a new year. The TV commercials romanticize champagne …

How much did I love Christmas? I would start my Christmas shopping in July of each year. I was the social convener of the century, organizing party after party. And, of course, a real tree …

Several years ago, I was watching news coverage following the crash of a passenger plane that killed all on board. The plane actually crashed into the ocean so over the next few days, survivor families …

Do you feel like there’s just too much to do during the holiday season?
If you’re caregiving, I’d be willing to bet that your stress levels are ramping on up there about now.  
It’s not that it’s not all good …

The first Christmas without my mother was agony. Actually, the month before was probably worse than the day itself. Because my mother had been sick between December 6 and January 11, I relived the whole …

Patrick Malone’s remarks at The Compassionate Friends Atlanta Chapter 2009 Candle Light Remembrance.
We would have traded places with our child without a second thought, but we weren’t given that choice. When that enormous pain …

Last year was the first year my mother didn’t recognize me at all . . . not even a glimmer.  I’d been expecting Alzheimer’s to take away her ability to recognize my face, but wasn’t …

We all have images about how life should look, and those images are never more powerful than when we look ahead to a holiday.
My wife, Bonnie, loved Christmas. The fall when she was dying of …

Let me enjoy Christmas
I want to feel the sparkle
The white of the lights
The colors of the season.
Let me enjoy Christmas
I want to get beyond
The crowds at the mall
For all the right seasons.
Let me enjoy Christmas
I …

In 1987, when I was eighteen years old, my mother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia two weeks prior to Christmas. We brought Christmas to her in her hospital room that year in …

I have a hard time believing it is the season of holidays again. While this year should be easier since it will be our fifth Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s without our son Daniel, I …

I believe, maybe because it helps me heal, that my brother would want me to enjoy the holidays.  His car accident was in December almost 15 years ago, and that December date catches up with me …

That holiday-pang hit my stomach the first October after Daniel died. Greeting me at an arts and craft shop were gold and silver stockings, a Christmas tree draped with turquoise balls and a wreath of …

Nothing that can be wrapped in a box could ever compare to the “gift” of my older sister, Dawn.  I still miss her keenly around the holidays, but I am thankful that she was a …