391 results for 'Losing Todd: A Mother's Journey'

In a previous Grief Digest article, a new concept specific to child loss was discussed (Grief’s Ladder). This concept evolved from decades-long journaling about the loss of our 17-year-old son, Andy, ...

Walking alongside T through his cancer treatment and finally his death was the most deeply devastating, heart shattering and painful experience of my life and the boys. And, it was the most precious, ...

By Heather Mahaney “The email arrived less than two days after he died. Not condolences. Not memories. Just an inventory of our possessions.” The End of Us Four and a half weeks before my ...

We do not always get to choose what life will teach us; life can be wildly unpredictable. On April 19, 2007, our lives slammed to a halt when our son, Matt, died. He was thirty-five years old, a grad ...

I recently finished Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air. The memoir is wrenching, elegant, and unforgettable. For those who haven’t read it, Paul Kalanithi was a brilliant neurosurgeon at Stanfo ...

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 ...

Dr. Susan Adams, Licensed Professional CounselorThe corona virus brings fear and death to every continent and every country. It has bound all of humanity in two common goals – finding a cure and sto ...

DOES GRIEF HURT?THAT AND OTHER ODD QUESTIONSDoes grief hurt? That’s an excellent question that those persons who have never experienced what I refer to as “crushing, gut-busting, overwhelming, debili ...

Duality. It is most certainly possible to feel two things at once, even sorrow and joy.I was born to a woman who taught me by example to hold sorrow and joy. My twin brother and I were born one month ...

I am on that long walk home. You ran ahead of me and your footsteps now echo the journey I must follow... Terri DreismeierSecluded This First YearI am bitterly cold; the brutality of the wind ...

Nothing in my fourteen-year hospice career ever could have prepared me for June 9, 2005, when my mother and my two adult children were flown to Shock Trauma in critical condition following a motor ve ...

Matt, I swear if one more person tells me that “I know just how you feel” or “God needed another angel” or that your death was “meant to be,” I won’t be responsible for my bad behavior.Letters for Gr ...

By Heather Hattie-Mae Mahaney For as long as I can remember, music was our language. My late husband used to make me mixed tapes — carefully crafted collections of songs that somehow said all t ...

As I slowly faded away on the couch with the T.V. blurring to white noise and Aurora’s, our 13-year-old Maltese, furry back arched against my leg, Sue whispered softly into my ear, “Why don’t you go ...

When my daughter was stillborn, friends and family reached out in countless thoughtful ways to show that they cared. They brought meals to fill our bellies, sent cards to offer condolences, and gifte ...

Eileen Vorbach Collins Your death wasn’t real. I knew you’d come back, that it was, all of it, a bad dream. The worst dream ever dreamed. When after the first day of shiva— after I ...

Photo via PexelsBy Jackie WatersPrioritizing mental well-being is more important than ever, but it can be challenging to know where to begin. While traditional methods have their place, exploring i ...

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 ...

Three Short Case Studies: Thoughts and Input of a Grief Counselor by Michael C. LaFerney Ph.D Case Study One: Dealing With Anger and GuiltA 78 year-old resident of nursing home dies in the ...

Since 1958, I have been writing stories that I have encountered and impacted my life. This, however, is the very last one that I shall write for no other story could even compare. It is not only th ...