Grief Digest Articles

A child full of wonder sits on my knee.She asks, “Where has he gone? Where can my pap be?”I hug her and smile, knowing just what to say.“It isn’t the same, but he’s not far away.Heaven’s for real, and Pap’s there now you see,and someday we’ll be with him, you and me.”Her eyes become drowsy; a smile on her face.She says, “I bet that Heaven’s a really nice place.”I sit back content and pray God would startplanting seeds of His love right there in her heart.She drifts off to sleep, so precious to m …

I see fun, I see laughterI feel secrets and wonderI see rollercoasters and tagI feel a darkside and thunderWhat is this called?A see-saw it feelsI am so high in the skyNow in the ground I am sealedWhere are you?Where did you go?That was so much fun we hadSo why do I feel so low?I am waitingWhy aren't you here?The rollercoaster was funSo why am I now scared?You disappeared, it's just meI feel the ride slowing downI will stay on awhileAnd keep looking for you all aroundBy: Amy Conahan©2019About th …

Have you ever thought of this world as a casket?Casket originally meant a small box for jewels or jewelry. It is a storage and repository for valuables. Then, over time, the usage of the word shifted to refer to a coffin, a storage and repository for corpses: a death-casket. This is likely our primary exposure to the term casket: a storage and housing for dead bodies.Now, we may be more ready to explore how this planet is a casket world.Jewelry boxWe’ll begin with the more pleasant analogy.For m …

(a grief support group presentation)A couple of years ago I was visiting my 97-year-old mother and the conversation turned to significant people in our lives. She got a wistful look in her eyes, and she said, “My mother died fifty-five years ago, and not a day goes by I don’t think about her. And I miss her.” My frail little mother died in June 2017 and I know exactly what she meant. Not a day goes by I don’t think about her, and I miss her.I know a married couple up in their 80’s still grieving …

We can’t go through this grief journey without experiencing “triggers” over and over again. Our loved ones leave so many reminders of them both physically and emotionally. Triggers that set us off in a tailspin of tears, in a ball of agony time after time.In the early days, weeks and months of our grief we seem to be surrounded by triggers. Those clothes in the laundry hamper that we clutch to our face, breathing in that scent of the beloved. That special food or ingredient in the grocery store …