204 results for 'difficult decisions'

By Helena Cartelle Wilson Time moves as it always has—normal, expected, required. Then suddenly, life becomes a vapor.Gone. Not slowly. Not gently. Just gone. Whether expected or not, someone y ...

“Thoughts and Prayers”….how do you feel about this expression of sympathy?An observation and opinion by Nan ZastrowI was recently asked what my feelings are about using the cliché “Our thoughts and p ...

After years of teaching, active participation in my church, service in a grief support program, and five years as a citizen of a retirement home, I am aware of the sadness and distress after the deat ...

by Nan Zastrow “Gonna need a bigger boat”when adversity changes your relationship with grief “Dear God, be good to me…. the sea is so big, and my boat is so small.” The ...

In 1963 it was the assassination of a president. In 1986 it was the explosion of the Space Shuttle witnessed by millions of children on TV. September 11, 2001 was the terrorist attack. By 2022, Covid ...

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 sealedWh ...

What You Need to Know About Participating in OnePrior to the Pandemic, I wrote an article Should I or Shouldn’t I Join a Grief Support Group referring to in-person groups. Our lives have changed sinc ...

© RICHARD BELFORD In this life no one is promised tomorrow, and we often leave or are left wishing we had just five more minutes.  This makes grief one of society’s most misunderstood and ...

Jan Borgman, MSW, LISW-S, FTPerhaps the most challenging experience anyone will ever face is dealing with the death of a loved one. No prior knowledge, no book, no other difficulty can truly prepare ...

Washington Irving once said, “There is sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelm ...

Silent Suffering By Linda Donart YoungOn the inside, I’ve wanted to write this for years. On the outside I continue to smile and ignore the knot inside of me screaming “you must tell.” The knot c ...

Hunger and grief: how do these relate? Hunger can preoccupy us, as food gets on our minds and tends to stay on our minds.Grief is similar...thoughts and images of loss can preoccupy us and perseverat ...

January 22, 2019 marks ten years since my beautiful Jenna died. In many ways it feels like she was just here—I remember her last days with us so clearly—but it also feels like it’s been an eternity s ...

Grief is so very difficult, and grief that refuses to be recognized, is the hardest to deal and cope with. The other day I noticed that one of my classmates was visibly upset. I watched as she would ...

A New Year.Another year without those we love beside us.How can this be? How is it that time has the audacity to move on in spite of our sorrow?No new memories created. Frozen in time. They live in o ...

I was sitting at my son’s hockey game when I got a text from a client I hadn’t seen in a while. It didn’t take me long to figure out she might be in trouble. I said to her directly, “It sounds like y ...

“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned, so we can accept the life that is waiting for us.” (Joseph Campbell)There is nothing more difficult than holding onto hope after tragic or challe ...

I was asked by a couple of different sources to write about the latest shooting in Florida. I dreaded the thought. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first, or second, or third time this has happened. Wha ...

Choose to honor what feels right for you. There are no rules.After my Mom died, I chose to honor the traditions of my family while adding some new. Honoring the traditions of my childhood after my Mo ...

During the 1950s, a lovely lady named Floss, witnessed a little girl with weight on her shoulders and fingernails bitten to the quick. It was then that I was rescued. Aunt Floss spent quality time te ...