Pamela Prime

Pamela Prime is a mother and a grandmother and lives in Twain Harte and San Francisco. She and her husband have a small retreat with three guest houses in Twain Harte, called Two Bears Dancing! Pamela is a Spiritual Director, an educator and a writer. She has a master’s degree in Systematic Theology from The Graduate School of Theology in Berkeley. Her first book “When the Moon is Dark We can See the Stars” was published in 2008. It is the story of how faith can hold us in our suffering, awaken us, and bring us into deeper awarenesses of God’s love and guidance. Pamela has a 4-month-old daughter who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. She also has a son who at the age of 16, committed suicide. Pamela was a guest on the radio show Healing the Grieving Heart and discussed Finding Peace and Light After Loss with hosts, Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley. To listen to this show, go to the following link: https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/38294/finding-peace-and-light-after-loss

Articles:

Holiday Grief as a Gift

Grief is a profound gift. It is one we never request, but one we learn to respect. When grief comes, we are given a way through our pain and suffering to a new way of being… to becoming more real and more open to love than ever before. I say this as a way to encourage each of us, me included, to feel fully the pain we are experiencing, especially as we enter the Holiday Season. The memories of “how it used to be” and all the seasonal traditions, now celebrated without our loved one(s), weigh heavily upon us and […]

Years After Son’s Suicide, Mother Lives in Peace and Joy

Sean died in the month of August. He was 16 years old, and he took his own life. He shot himself with his father’s hunting rifle. I never saw his body, but, in retrospect, I now know that it was for the best. I did not feel that way at the time. I begged to see him. My heart ached with an intense longing to touch him…just one last time. Those first months were a nightmare. Hell could not be worse! I do not recall our first Thanksgiving. As many memories as there are in my heart and mind, that first […]

Does Grief End? Being Available for ‘Turning Points’

After my son’s death, there were many turning points along the way in my grief. I could not make them happen all by myself, but I could make myself available. At each turning point, there was a sense of Divine Grace; it was only in quiet reflection or in sharing the experience with a good listener that I could say “thank you.” I remember well the first time I could look at my son’s picture without breaking down in sobs. His suicide was shocking, terrifying and beyond heart-breaking. That memorable day, I sat on our sofa and looked at a photograph of his […]

Memorial Day Reminds Us to Work for Peace

By Pamela Prime — This Memorial Day is once again a significant and special day to remember our soldiers who have offered their lives for our well-being and the well-being of the world. As our soldiers continue to be sent to the Middle East and elsewhere, we must continue to support them with our love and our prayers regardless of how we feel about war. I have a friend, Dr. John, who is now in Afghanistan. He is an orthopedic surgeon who has given seven months of his life to support the healing of our soldiers through surgery but also […]

Celebrating Mother Earth and Mother Mary on Mother’s Day

By Pamela Prime — I awakened on Mother’s Day a few years ago with the awareness that I would be alone that day for the first time in thirty years. I recall lying in bed and feeling the loneliness that only my children could fill on that day, or so I thought. Although the sun was already shining and the birds chirping, I was reluctant to rise…what would I do to celebrate when none of my children were with me? My daughter Katie was a mother now and her excitement was naturally with her own children. My son, Mark was […]

Easter Reminds Us That We Can Rise From Our Grief

By Pamela Prime — Easter and the days leading up to it are a sacred time for many. In some ways, this is an extraordinary time, a time filled with mystery. It was a time I could not fully relate to because it was about the mysteries of Jesus and didn’t have much to do with me or my life. It really was not until my daughter died of Sudden Infant Syndrome that I really appreciated this as sacred time, a time to identify with the God who suffers and the God who rises. I began to see it as […]

Learning to Cope with Unmet Longings

By Pamela Prime — Children are the most beautiful gifts and provide the most extraordinary challenges to us. I often say to parents who are in pain that no one can hurt us as parents like our children can. They can hurt us with words and actions, with their choices or lack of choices, and with their criticisms and impatience. And no one can bring the kind of joy that comes from one’s children when they express their love and appreciation of us. Children are amazing teachers for us. I think this is because we love them so much that […]

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