Grief Digest Articles

Introducing Living Grief Theory Naomi Sanderovsky, PhD There is something about pines, the way they hold their ground through every season, every storm. When I began building a retreat space among them for people in grief, I thought I understood what I was creating. The forest, it seems, knew better. My soul family, the people I had depended on through years of mourning, were meant to be an integral part of this space for others. Before we broke ground, every one of them died. The woods became …

By Helena Cartelle Wilson Time moves as it always has—normal, expected, required. Then suddenly, life becomes a vapor.Gone. Not slowly. Not gently. Just gone. Whether expected or not, someone you love has passed away. Now what do you do? You begin to ask questions that do not have answers:• What do I do with the love I still have?• Where do I place the conversations I did not finish?• Who am I now without them here?• How do I live when part of me left with them? This is …

The motor of the Singer sewing machine sounded like the engine of a truck, a loud sound that vibrated my table. Its yellowish surface with all the scratches from use showed its age--over thirty-six years of ownership. I was impressed that it lasted so long and that it still works! Old stuff was built to last. I brushed the fuzz, oiled the bobbin case, wiped the exterior clean, and began to stitch. Aunt Mary lent me this sewing machine when I was an undergraduate at Valdosta State University. I u …

By Victoria Rosen She comes to me a lot when I’m in the bath. As I’m about to shave or wash myself, images of me washing her come back, like a veteran with PTSD. Flashes of me drying her legs off with her favorite towel. Images of me holding her arms as I tried to use enough cream to beat away the crepey oldness of hers. Brushing her wet hair like a toddler fresh from a bath. Her eyes looking up at me because she is suddenly so old and so small. Her still seeing me but no longer seei …

On August 29, 2024, thirty-one-year-old NHL hockey star Johnny Gaudreau and his best friend, twenty-nine-year-old brother Matthew were hit by a drunk driver and killed while out for a ride on their bicycles. It was not only the eve of their sister Katie’s wedding in which they were to be groomsmen, but it was later learned that both Johnny and Matthew’s wives, Meredith and Madeline, were expecting. Unfortunately, this kind of tragedy happens far too often and except for its famous vi …