Joan Haskins

Joan Horsley Haskins, BS, MSW, CSW, lives in Salt Lake City Utah and has four children and eight grandchildren. She is the author of five published books, including The Miracle of The Ivy: A True Tale of Comfort for Times of Loss. Joan writes for the Kern County Family Magazine and for Kids’ Reading Room at the L.A. Times. She is a time management and organization consultant and has her own non-profit organization, Greatest Gift, to help prevent child abuse. The proceeds of Joan’s books go to helping orphans in Rwanda gain an education, she has lectured and taught many subjects. In 2009 Joan’s son Rick had a school built in a village in Ghana and had it dedicated and named in honor of his parents, Joan and Richard.

Articles:

Uncontrollable Life Events: Adjusting to Widowhood

It was about 5 a.m. on an Easter morning. It was still dark outside when I was awakened by a nerve-shattering noise, like a screech from a trapped animal or an uncanny moaning from another world. As I roused myself into wakefulness, I realized the sound had come from my husband, Dick, who was sleeping beside me. I stumbled from the bed and walked around to his side of the bed and gently shook him—thinking that a nightmare had forced his cry. There was no response. His body was rigid and cold to my touch. I frantically dialed 911, while […]

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Adjusting to Widowhood

What I was about to do seemed as terrifying as if I were going to walk across a tight rope, suspended 100 feet into the air, with no safety net below, while wearing stilettos. It was only a month since my husband of 64 years had passed away. I was still reeling with grief and uncertainty when the opportunity came for me to buy our daughter, Gena’s, home. Even before my husband’s illness, I thought it wise to buy a home on the street where our two daughters lived so we could access their help, if needed. A suitable home […]

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Boarders Without Borders: How New Events Trigger Old Grief

Have you ever had an unseen boarder that caused emotional turmoil, penetrating all of your carefully closeted borders and refusing to leave? Only recently did I recognize unresolved grief as an emotional boarder that relentlessly hung on for too many years.  Now that I am nearing life’s sunset, some of my daily patterns have begun to be more clearly understood. It wasn’t until my Aunt Stella died that the grief I felt from losing my mother had never really been resolved. Mother had passed away three months before Aunt Stella’s death, having fought a courageous battle against a rare form of […]

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Depression During the Holidays

As Santa’s “ho ho ho” drifts toward us, it may not sound much too jolly if we are feeling sad.  We tend to think everyone but us is happy, which is one of the biggest myths surrounding Christmas.  According to statistics, there is a 15% increase in the number of individuals seeking help for emotional disorders in December.  Some causes of holiday depression are: Enormous pressure to get too much done within a specified time. Overwhelming financial obligations. Relationships with family and friends that are more complex and strained at a time when you want them to be perfect. Hard […]

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