Grief Digest Articles

15 Things You Need to KnowDonna stood outside in the parking lot, in the dark, trying to talk herself into entering the building. Once in the door, the next step would be to take the stairway to the conference room. The thought of it caused her palms to sweat and her heart pound. Then what? She would need to enter the room to meet a room-full of strangers who were likely grieving just like her. “What did I get myself into?” she questioned. “Will I have to speak? What will people think about me …

From Tears of Mourning to Smiles of RemembranceBy Annette BridgesThe older my precious Lady got, I prayed she would pass peacefully in her sleep. I never wanted to face the decision to help her cross her rainbow bridge. In fact, I emphatically told my husband to never ask me to make that call.Lady was approaching her seventeenth birthday. Although her life had already been a long one for a miniature dachshund, her life had been filled with physical struggles. She was only one year old when she h …

Overcoming the Stigma of Suicide Accepting the Pain of GrievingIn June of 1989, my eldest brother, Dale, took his own life. He lived on the coast of North Carolina at the time. When my family in Wisconsin was notified of his death, my brother David immediately said, "Let's tell people Dale died in an accident." Such was the inherent shame of suicide.Although we did acknowledge my brother's death as the reality that it was--a suicide--the fact remains that because of the stigma and embarrassme …

As of late, there is a chance you may be a castaway on a remote, barren island.Inside the world of emotions, grief can make us shipwrecked and stranded, alone, in some unfamiliar place far from home.Inside the world of images and memories, grief can rather shackle us to the past and ever tempt us to pitch a tent in the chambers of those bygone times.In these ways, grief can become an isle that separates us from the mainland – the mainland of present life, remaining life, and relationships in-wai …