Coralease Ruff

Dr. Coralease Ruff is a Bereavement Facilitator, A Registered Nurse, a University Professor and an International Nursing Consultant. She and her husband became bereaved parents in 1997, following the death of their 21-year old daughter in an automobile accident in the Dominican Republic. Since then, she has been involved in the Compassionate Friends Inc. in many roles. Coralease is a frequent presenter on grief topics locally and nationally including The Compassionate Friends (TCF) National Conferences, the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association and The Society of Childhood Emergencies as well as local universities, churches and community centers. She has held faculty positions at Catholic University, University of Washington, The Catholic University and is currently Professor Emeritus at Howard University. She is an end of life nursing educator and developed and currently teaches a university course on Grief and Loss to graduate and undergraduate nursing students. She has published widely in professional nursing literature and the lay press. Her grief articles include Grieving through the Years; When the Nurse is Grieving and Finding Help and Hope in the Aftermath of the Virginia Tech Tragedy. She combined a biography of her daughter with a grief handbook entitled; Her Light Still Shines which is published by iUniverse and will be available in bookstores soon. Dr. Coralease Ruff appeared on the radio show “Healing the Grieving Heart” with Dr. Gloria & Dr. Heidi Horsley to discuss, Grief and Your Health: Taking Care of Yourself. To hear this interview, click on the following link: www.voiceamericapd.com/health/010157/horsley072706.mp3 Dr. Coralease Ruff appeared on the radio show “Healing the Grieving Heart” with Dr. Gloria & Dr. Heidi Horsley to discuss, Coping with the Sudden Death of a Child in a Foreign Country. To hear this interview, go to the following link: https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/39289/coping-with-sudden-death-of-a-child-in-a-foreign-country https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tte1iuiR6cQ

Articles:

Taking Care of Your Health While Grieving

The Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends, Alan Pederson, joins the president of the Open to Hope Foundation, Dr. Gloria Horsley, to discuss the importance of health while in the grieving process. Grief is a natural response to loss, but it can be devastating. Special guest Dr. Coralease Ruff is featured, a registered nurse, professor, and international grieving consultant. When grieving, your heart rate can go up and your blood pressure increases. You may have digestive issues, respiratory system problems, heart issues, and your musculoskeletal system can be affected, says Dr. Ruff. Physical symptoms are common, and can be dangerous. […]

Grieving in the New Year

he New Year is a perfect time to plan for self-care and work on personal grief. I readily admit that making a commitment to deal with grief is a big commitment, which will take a lot of hard work. But it can be done. I offer the following six tips on how to get on track with your grief this year. 1. Put a support system in place. Grief is not the kind of work that should be done alone. You are not alone and there are many people willing to help. The support can consist of family members, close […]

Fifteen Commandments for Surviving the Death of Your Child

In ancient Hebrew Scriptures, Yahweh gave 10 Commandments to Moses, following the Israelites’ escape from slavery in Egypt. First recorded in the book of Exodus, these Commandments are moral statutes designed for the Israelites to enjoy fruitful and holy living. Unlike the Biblical Ten Commandments, the 15 Bereavement Commandments listed here, are not universal and timeless standards of right and wrong. Rather, they are principles that many grieving individuals, especially bereaved parents, have found beneficial for surviving the emotional roller coaster of the grief journey. The purpose of these 15 Bereavement Commandments is to offer you a pathway to inner […]

Finding Peace in Your Breath this Holiday Season

Like many of you, I miss my loved one this holiday season and like many others of you, I am still missing my child, my 21-year-old daughter. When we are grieving, we tend to hold our breath or take rapid shallow breaths. Additionally, our bodies secrete the stress hormone, and when the stress is elevated over time, as it is in grief, the immune system is compromised. This increases our susceptibility to colds, flu, and other illnesses. Add to our grief the busyness of the holiday season and we experience a double whammy. In our busy lives, intentional breathing can […]

When Canceling a Holiday is Not an Option

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 Easter, first Mother’s Day, my daughter’s birthday, my birthday and all of the other special days, I knew Christmas would be unbearable. I didn’t know how I could possibly survive it. The first Christmas of my bereavement, I wanted to keep the spirit of the season at least for our surviving son who was experiencing more pain than any 18-year-old should ever have to […]

From Pain to Ache to ‘New Me’: Healing From the Loss of a Child

Never in my wildest nightmare could I have imagined that my child, my only daughter, would die. Nor could I imagine living through it. The unthinkable did happen! My 21-year daughter was killed in a car accident in which some construction equipment ran into her car. This tragedy occurred in the Dominican Republic where my daughter had gone to serve as a missionary. How I survived is still a mystery. However, I am here to tell you about it and about the cues that indicated I was getting better. When I first told my story at a local Compassionate Friends […]

Why Do We Grieve Over a Celebrity’s Death?

By Coralease Ruff — We react so strongly to the death of public figures like Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Princess Diana, whom we do not know personally, primarily because we feel as if we know them. On some level, perhaps we do know them because we may see them often, read about them, listen to their music, view their films as well as follow their life events. In the case of Michael Jackson, I began listening to his music in the early days when he and his brothers first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and have followed him […]

Contributing Writer Ruff Publishes Book About Daughter

Coralease Cox Ruff, a contributing writer for Open to Hope, has written a new book about her daughter, who died at the age of 21. A bereaved mother and grief educator, Ms. Ruff skillfully combines her daughter’s biography with a grief book to produce Her Light Still Shines, a beautiful tribute to her daughter and an invaluable guide for bereaved parents. This moving story celebrates the life of Candice M. Ruff who profoundly touched many lives in her short 21 years. Her mother lovingly presents the mirrors that form the kaleidoscope of her life by incorporating Candice’s writings and friends’ […]

Strategies for Surviving Holidays and Special Days

By Coralease Ruff — Many of us can exhale now that Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanzaa and other winter holidays have come and gone. Some have survived their first big holiday season since the death of their loved one. It is no surprise, however, that there are other special days coming that may be equally as difficult. During these times you may be hurting so badly that you have neither the interest nor the energy to do anything. Then don’t. If that is your wish, you should feel free to choose not to observe the holidays. On the other hand, it may be helpful […]

Coralease Ruff: Help Others Deal With Their Losses

By Coralease Ruff –?

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.