Grief Digest Articles

A long time is too long to be missing the one who knew you the best. Beware of people that tell you that your pain will pass as it shall not. Cherish the great memories that you have. Discard not the ones that include resentment because they still carry a lesson that needs to be learned. Evenings and nighttime will bring back feelings of agony and aching.Forgetting how she held you is the worst. Grant me one more hug and it would warm my heart for years to come. Hearing her voice would be divine …

I have a strong character. I’m not sure about my Higher Power these days, but I do have a Light inside of me that urges me on to healing, even during those days when my eyelids are too swollen to lift them up to Heaven.I vacillate between great days and very low days, but mostly, I function well, and there will always be a vein of sorrow that runs through everything I do. Maybe there was a time when I thought it would hurt less if my life came to an end, but I never thought about taking my own l …

Flailing about for answers after my son’s sudden death a few years ago, I leaned on some of those crutches that become familiar to many dads.I dove back into work, changing careers to become a high school teacher. I put extra elbow grease into buffing the topsides of our boat, venting, churning, then finally ready to unwind a bit on the water for another season. I tried to anticipate the needs of our two younger children, noting when they were sad or vacant.Taking long solo runs, I called on Mik …

Adults are often bewildered by the reaction of teens who have lost a family member or close friend. Most adults experience grief as a long journey where they undergo numerous emotional, psychological and physical changes. Through grief work and the passage of time healing takes place. However, with teenagers grief is not so predictable. They experience periods of grief that are interrupted with activity, play and at times they seem totally unaffected by the loss; like it never happened. Most are …

At times it seems like the negative thoughts and sadness are taking a toll on me and I start to wonder if my mind and heart will ever find peace. Suddenly, I finally find an unknown source of inner calm, I relax into it and just let myself “be.” Be in that moment of time where nothing can touch me, where I can forget for just that moment…
I appreciate these rare moments of peace in my shattered mind and body. I treat them as a time of meditation, stillness within myself. A replenishing I suppose …