Grief Digest Articles

When someone dies, do we really ever say “goodbye?” You hear it all the time: They said their final goodbyes. Come up to the casket, Honey, and say goodbye to Grandpa. People attended the funeral, paid their final respect, and said goodbye to a good friend.What does “goodbye” really mean? Do we actually mean, “I will never see you again?” or does it mean, “I am now removing this person from my life” or perhaps, “So long for now until I see you again”? For some people it may mean saying good-bye …

By Linda Campanella It’s shortly after sunrise and I am sitting on the deck of my cabin in the Berkshires waiting for a visit from my hummingbird. I yearn to hear the unmistakable vibration of her wings flapping as she hovers nearby.Six months after becoming a motherless daughter in September 2009, I was alone in this same spot and, for the first time, allowing myself to indulge my immense, intense sadness. As I sat staring at the lake, alone with my grief in a location where I especially missed …

The weather is shifting in Joshua Tree. The once winter-barren trees are full of beautiful green leaves, and the rose bushes are laden with beauty and aromatic flowers-- and – I made it through my fourth Mother’s Day without my son.People who are not currently in grief may not understand the hills and valleys of the process. One day you’re navigating the process, as we will for our lifetime, and you may even find a reason to laugh, smile, dance – and like being caught naked, your utter sorrow co …

By Marilyn LanzaLoss of an egalitarian relationship is how I thought of my husband’s death. Ron and I had a real and consuming relationship based on equality. I was always spontaneous and shared with Ron my love for him, including on the day he died. I go over and over the last time I was with Ron. It was wonderful but far too short, not only that particular day but our life together. He had prepared breakfast when I came downstairs as usual at 4:00 A.M. and I went and sat on his lap. I was goi …

By Richard Lawrence BelfordIt’s hard to believe, as I look ahead to and beyond another Father’s Day that my own father has been gone for three years now, as it is equally difficult to realize that it's been over three months since my brother in-law's wife passed away, and less than twelve weeks ago that my aunt lost her son. This means that other family members besides me have also been grieving, having lost either a grandparent, a parent, a spouse, a child, a brother or brother in-law, a sister …