Grief Digest Articles

The dull pain in my heart still comes and goes,Much the way that a tide ebbs and flows.Alone, I endure this anguish and despair;There is no one who comprehends with whom I can share.In my guilt and my grief I’m completely aloneThe light of my life—my son—now is gone.Your brilliance extinguished by your own hand,An effectively lethal act—spontaneous, unplanned.In one brief moment, the decision you madeTo end your life—the ultimate price paidFor a life so full, yet somehow beyond sad,Su …

(Photo is Rudy's Mama)I cannot believe that it is almost one year to the day when I last physically held you and heard your beautiful voice, my dearest Mama. I can still imagine every curve of your face, your sweet soothing voice, that soft hair of yours. Your sweet scent is still a reminder of a classy woman of no equal.These past few days and weeks, I have noticed a change in my body - lethargic and lacking the vibrancy of life. I have come to acknowledge that it is the grief, the trauma, mani …

My son and I were playing a friendly game of catch. As I tossed him the ball, I noticed the mitt he was wearing. It had been my father’s baseball glove that he had used when I was in Little League. I remembered the many times my father had gone to Little League practice and coached or hit fly balls to us. Sports were not really his forte, but being part of my life was important to him. A scientist and researcher with NASA, he was a dedicated father who enjoyed spending time with his three c …

Put Your Anger to WorkAnger.It’s the hidden emotion that I must poke around to unveil in my grief counseling. The only other emotion more concealed is relief. But that’s a topic for another day.The objects of anger range from the deceased to doctors, to God, to self. Maybe you feel like you should have seen signs of the disease yourself. Maybe you’re mad at God for letting your person suffer, or for making parents watch their child die, or children watch their parents die. Maybe the doctors …

Ambushed by the news, I dropped the receiver from the pay phone. My knees buckled and I was on the ground. I might have screamed. I don’t remember.Susie is dead.My 8-week-old grand daughter is dead.Over the next week I experienced an exponential dimension to grief. I grieved for our baby. I grieved for my son’s loss and for my daughter-in-law. I grieved for the baby’s uncle, my younger son, who was tasked with letting the family know what happened. I grieved for my mom, just diagnosed with demen …