In my fifteen years of helping people change their lives working with emotional distress I have learnt many new things about human life and behaviour. Many of these lessons have come about with experience and not from books. One of such lessons is- how do we know when someone has completed the grief ?process?.
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My brother-in-law died suddenly last month when he fell from a ladder. We drove to Maryland where we celebrated Don’s life and visited with my husband’s family. Don was cremated so there was no physical body for anyone to ogle. Don was an avid fisherman and loved to be near the water. It only seemed appropriate that his celebration was held at the beach house of some dear friends who live on the eastern shore. Each person who wanted to speak was given a turn to share a story about Don. Afterward, Jimmy Buffet music played and margaritas flowed
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Dealing with any kind of loss with a child or children is a task that most adults dread. Best friends can move away, a car can kill a favorite pet, a schoolmate can be killed in an auto accident, and Grandma may die suddenly are all situations that parents can face. In any case, a parent should handle the loss with dignity and quality so the child learns how to deal by comparison.
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We know that the holidays can be an especially difficult time after a loved one has died. GriefWorks? winter newsletter, which is attached, offers special support for this time of year. It also includes our schedule of upcoming programs and services. Please note that we have cancelled the Night of Remembrance service originally schedule for Friday December 8. We invite you to instead join us at our Public Forum on Thursday November 30, from 7-8:30 p.m., which will be followed by a brief service of remembrance. There is no cost and no need to register. For more information, please see […]
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Gloria?Here are the five domains of growth as we describe them on our website?www.ptgi.uncc.edu What forms does posttraumatic growth take? Posttraumatic growth tends to occur in five general areas. Sometimes people who must face major life crises develop a sense that new opportunities have emerged from the struggle, opening up possibilities that were not present before. A second area is a change in relationships with others. Some people experience closer relationships with some specific people, and they can also experience an increased sense of connection to others who suffer.. A third area of possible change is an increased sense of […]
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Dear Friends, As you may know, our son Keith Loehr died by suicide in 1999. Since then, Carol has created and maintained a website to help those who have suffered a loss by suicide and to help counselors and clergy better understand depression and suicide. Carol has just recently published “My Uncle Keith Died” which is a children’s book to help families and children understand depression and understand the importance of talking about their feelings and getting help for people (especially children) who are depressed. Unfortunately, suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA among adolescents and […]
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When you suddenly find yourself without your life partner, you don’t know what to expect. Your world’s been turned upside down. Like the mighty oak caught in a fierce wind, you feel uprooted. Your feet don’t touch the ground. You think you’re crazy. But you’re not. You’re just a new widow. Your husband is dead and your life is forever changed.
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Then you suddenly find yourself without your life partner, you don’t know what to expect. Your world’s been turned upside down. Like the mighty oak caught in a fierce wind, you feel uprooted. Your feet don’t touch the ground. You think you’re crazy. But you’re not. You’re just a new widow. Your husband is dead and your life is forever changed.
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This interesting article addresses some of the key issues regarding death resources. A careful reading of this material could make a big difference in how you think about death. Each of us find ourselves wondering about dying. This introspective look at our future engages our hearts and minds to enter into what we cannot embrace. Sometimes, words are so limiting and are sometimes best captured in a poem. This poem is a reflection of what I am trying to describe. Where the Soul Never Dies Nature, a reflection of our soul, reveals the seasons of our lives. Like people, earth’s […]
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I am among those who know that one never recovers from the loss of one deeply loved. We come to accept the death and adjust our lives – rather begrudingly, but we do not recover, we survive. Somewhere in the grief process, we make the decision to survive and then we are emotionally enabled to build a different kind of relationship with our deceased loved one. Mother, I Don’t Mind The Pain When you died my dearest, blessed mother, I had no sights or thoughts for tomorrow. My soul experienced a wrenching eruption
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Open to Hope is an online community offering inspirational stories of loss, hope and recovery. We believe hope is the bridge between loss and recovery.
