Film Review: The Secret Life of Bees

    By Linda Pountney -- Multiple loss themes run concurrently throughout the movie The Secret Life Of Bees, based on Sue Monk Kidd's novel, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. Dakota Fanning plays Lily, a guarded fourteen-year old, grief-stricken over the death of a mother she hardly remembers. A tortured soul, Lily's father (Paul Bettany) takes his pain out on his daughter. His cruelty contributes to Lily's imaginary world where her mother exists to nurture her. Lily embarks on a journey to uncover…

    Enjoy Life Despite Loss

    By Diana Doyle -- Making a habit of being happy and appreciative of what I have is my hope for the new year. Being fully present every day to enjoy all the wonderful things my life is full of family, friends, good memories, sunny days, loving, laughing and hugs. With those, I'll be able to face any new challenges the next twelve months will bring. Diana Doyle lost her sister, mother and daughter over a three-year period.

    Michelle Linn-Gust: Notice Signs that Loved Ones are Still Here

    By Michelle Linn-Gust -- In the last few years, I have come to realize that my bond to my sister is much stronger than it ever was. I have a strong sense of her being with me, helping me to navigate life, and sharing both the highs and lows that we all experience. We all have this opportunity to feel our loved ones with us if we choose to. They send us signs although we need to be tuned into…

    Military Group Knows a Lot About Healthy Grieving

    By Ami Neiberger-Miller -- Holiday cheer and merrymaking may be everywhere this time of year, but for thousands of Americans grieving the loss of a loved one, the holiday season can be an emotional minefield. And there's no roadmap for easy navigation. For more than a decade, TAPS has helped surviving families of those who have died in military service. Carroll and TAPS offer the following tips to help anyone who is grieving during the holiday season: Take charge of…

    Reminders of a Brother Who Rarely Saw the Sky

    By Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn -- A few years ago, I ended up at the American Folk Art Museum quite by accident. A friend was visiting from out of town, and we'd intended to go to the newly opened MOMA. But the lines were insane. Next door, at the AFAM, however, there were no lines at all. So we thought, what the heck? It's a great museum. But what very much caught my attention was an exhibit on prison art. To be…

    How Yoga Can Help After a Loss

    By Jason Wendroff-Rawnicki -- My journey to healing through yoga started even before my need for it appeared. I began practicing yoga about ten years ago. It started as a workout regimen. I was tired of aerobics, weight lifting, cardio kick-boxing and similar exercises. There was talk in my gym of this great yoga class. Not really sure what it was, I kept delaying taking the class. One morning, I was over a friend's house with my wife, and my…

    Planning Helps With the ‘Firsts’

    By Sue Gilbert and Suzanne Redfern - The following is an excerpt from The Grieving Garden, authored by Suzanne Redfern and Susan Gilbert (Hampton Roads Publishing, 2008). In this excerpt, Susan Benveniste, one of the book's 22 contributors, speaks of her family's first celebrations, including Thanksgiving, without their daughter, Shelly. Enduring the "firsts" can be one of the hardest obstacles to face.  Examples of the firsts are:  holidays, birthdays, Mother's or Father's Day, and the death-day anniversary. These days can…

    Finding Your Way to a “New Normal”

    By Clara Hinton -- Grief is such a difficult journey, but it becomes especially difficult around the holiday season.  Everywhere you look, there are reminders of family times, laughter and cheer, and times spent sitting around the table telling stories and eating a delicious meal together. For the person who has lost a family member, the holidays take on an entirely new meaning.  There are thoughts of emptiness, loneliness, incompleteness and a fear and dread of facing the holidays without…

    Struggling to Survive Brother’s Suicide

    Janet writes in: I, along with my sister and now deceased brother, have always suffered from mental illness --  hereditary-based and environmental. We grew-up in an immensely dysfunctional home, with a raging alcoholic father. My sister has bipolar disorder, and I suffer from depression. I knew my brother planned on killing himself and argued for my parents to look for him after they had had a terrible fight and he left our home in a rage. They said because he…

    Mourning a Brother Lost to Violence

    Sameena from Charlotte writes: I am looking for ideas to help my mom. My  older brother was murdered and buried in foreign country as a John Doe. We will eventually have him exhumed and have services - it's just a lot of red tape. I am looking for a way to help my mom grieve by honoring him in some way. I like the quilt idea but I don't know if my mom has any of his clothes. Do you…