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A Funeral, a Wedding, Graduations and One Unwanted Guest

Posted on June 22, 2019 - by Elizabeth Brady

It has been six and a half years since our son, Mack, died suddenly on New Year’s Eve 2012, just shy of his ninth birthday. As the many of us who learn to live newly after loss, we take it on as a part of our lives and learn to carry Mack with us through life. So, as we entered this spring season of passages including a funeral, a wedding, and a handful of graduations, I was surprised by my fatigue. I have learned enough over the years to recognize when something is calling for my attention. In some ways […]

The Loss of My Fur Family

Posted on June 6, 2019 - by Ann Schiebert

Lately, I have had many patients come to see me to get grief counseling over the loss of a beloved pet. Their grief aroused my grief over my past losses. The thought came to me that we have a lot of attention focused on loss of a parent, loss of a child, loss of a spouse, or the loss of a friend, but it seems that there is little support for those who have lost a member of their fur family. For me, I have lost both an adult child and pets. I love my pets as much as I […]

Being Exquisitely Seen

Posted on May 29, 2019 - by Tambre Leighn

Books Saved Me I’ve been a lover of words and books and writers since childhood. I treasure the way we can be educated, transported, and transformed through what we read and the stories we share. Every so often, I hear a phrase strung together, like pearls on a string, that resonates deeply in my soul. How a phrase lands can be as breathtaking as the most beautiful view from a mountaintop. During difficult times, I’ve often turned to books for comfort, wisdom, and to feel less alone in my struggles. The author that saved me from my grief was Viktor […]

Embracing Helplessness

Posted on May 15, 2019 - by Greg Adams

Part of me doesn’t want to write about this—feeling and being helpless. Among the feelings I experience on a regular basis, it is one of the least favorite and possibly the champion of them all. Feeling helpless is a loser. If you’re reading this, then likely you know this all too well. You may be a helper or supporter of others. Your job and your orientation in life are to make things better, to make a positive difference. You’ve been trained to intervene. You help solve problems, ease pain and suffering, revise dysfunctional systems, and/or bring relief to the masses […]

Turning Less Into More

Posted on May 15, 2019 - by Tambre Leighn

Well, that was unexpected. It seems, even when dozens and dozens of years have passed, grief, and what triggers it, can still surprise me. I’m writing this on Mother’s Day. I’ve been motherless since I was seventeen years old. It was a quiet day today in my neighborhood. As I stood in silence, watering some succulents that seemed a little thirsty, two women walked by, each carrying a single rose and holding hands with a boy and a girl. “Ah, a Happy Mother’s Day must be in order here for both of you,” I said. I like to engage with […]

‘Reply All’: Celebrating Mother’s Day on Email

Posted on May 11, 2019 - by Beth Marshall

This Mother’s Day, I’m thinking about not only my mom, Beazy, but also about my one-in-a-million grand mom, Nana! Both will be celebrating the day in Heaven. I hope — since we know there will be no sadness, carb-counting or keto-craziness in heaven — they will celebrate the day with one of Nana’s killer six-layer chocolate cakes! Is that cake making your mouth water right now, too? One of my family’s favorite traditions is to stir up an email conversation among the whole family on special days. On Mother’s Day, for example, Cousin Drew might start the day with a […]

Boy’s Don’t Cry…right? WRONG! And That’s Okay

Posted on May 8, 2019 - by Herb Knoll

From the time little boys are first able to walk, in some cases even before they can walk, parents begin shaping the psyche of their sons by telling them, “Boys don’t cry. ” Oh really… who says so? Whoever it was, they should be prosecuted for the harm they have imposed on to men, young and old alike. Who among us doesn’t know a man who when faced with a painful situation such as the loss of a spouse or life partner, turned to tears, only to quickly apologize for having shed them? Why is it society holds men […]

Four Things that Helped Me When my Friend, Sarah, Died

Posted on April 27, 2019 - by Heidi Gessner

“If I had a flower or every time I thought of you, I could walk through my garden forever.” — Alfred Tennyson “I have some sad news about my sister and your old friend, Sarah. Last Friday she lost her two year battle with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. I didn’t want you to find out on Facebook or randomly months later.” That is the recent text I received from Sarah’s brother about my childhood summer friend. I didn’t know Sarah was sick. We were supposed to get together last summer while I was vacationing on Cape Cod, but I canceled. Too much […]

The Breath of Life is a Touch from Heaven

Posted on April 11, 2019 - by Nina Impala

Our hearts continue beating no matter the sadness and visceral pain we experience when a love one dies. What else can our breathing do? Let me invite you to the space of the breath and only the breath. I know what you’re thinking: People say to you to just breathe, take a deep breath, and in the depths of grief, this sounds like it is no help at all. Yet, if we break it down and think of it as a connection to heaven, a prayer, a moment of grace, something much deeper is felt. Tapping into a wisdom […]

Celebration Service Brings Mother Solace

Posted on April 7, 2019 - by Shirley Wiles-Dickinson

My 40-year-old son, Jeff, passed away very unexpectedly on 12/13/2018. I thought my sister’s death was the worse thing I would ever go through. Then Jeff died. It is difficult to describe the feelings. Profound sadness and heartache beyond anything I have ever felt before. Recently, I thought about Jeff’s celebration of life. Jeff struggled with his beliefs so I knew he wouldn’t want a pastor that didn’t know him talking about him and his life. Jeff’s viewing was on 12/18 and the next morning he went out for cremation. We had the celebration on 12/19 with an empty urn […]