Yearly Archives:: 2011

School Days — Reminding Teachers About Loss

August 31st, 2011
Posted By:

back to school
School days are here again and the usual anxieties are filling children’s heads: a new year of learning, a new teacher, new friends or a new school.  Along with thoughts about wearing the right clothes, hanging out with the cool crowd, comes an additional layer of concerns for those children who are still dealing with a death in the family or perhaps one that may have occurred during the summer.

This school year also brings the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and reminders of this event are all around us: television specials, national ceremonies and the opening of … Read More

Gratitude

August 26th, 2011
Posted By:

In her best-selling book Simple Abundance, author Sarah Ban Breathnach recommends spending a few minutes each morning and evening listing five things for which you are grateful. Once a day is good enough for me but at the end of a particularly great or horrendous day you might want to think again about some of the unexpected things that happened to you. Focusing on the positive aspects of life is what’s it’s all about.  After a week that started with me taking my son back to college for his senior year in New York City, then an unprecedented 5.8 earthquake… Read More

Unbroken By Laura Hillenbrand

August 19th, 2011
Posted By:

Resilience is having the capacity to bounce back from change, failure or trauma.  Some people are lucky enough to be born with tons of relience and others of us constantly work on it. If you are looking for insight into the boundaries of resilience, then please read, “Unbroken,” by Laura Hillenbrand.  You may remember Laura Hillenbrand for the exceptional research and writing she gave us in her first book, “Seabiscuit.”  Hillenbrand’s new book, “Unbroken,” is the compelling story of Louis Zamperini, a talented and ferociously competitive runner who participated in the Berlin Olympics and is a World War II hero. … Read More

One Hilarious Beach Memory

August 13th, 2011
Posted By:

Photo By Emily Noonan My son and I vacation at Bethany Beach, the same beach we have been enjoying since he was a toddler.  It’s also the same beach where I vacationed as a child.  This conjures up all sorts of memories for both of us and it gives my son a sense of stability.  We can’t imagine going anywhere else. The first time we vacationed in Bethany after my husband’s death, it was jarring, but we stayed positive and survived.  I had some meltdowns but they were in private.  More importantly, keeping up the vacation tradition gave us confidence… Read More

Laughing Matters

August 2nd, 2011
Posted By:

Friends Can Be Life Savers The most wasted of all days is one without laughter — e.e. Cummings  A few months ago on a Sunday afternoon, one of my friends and I met up for lunch at a neighborhood place that is casual and comfortable or as we say, the restaurant was “cheap and cheerful.”.  We both can be major league talkers but we both also understand the importance of listening so it’s not as though we are always talking over each other.  A lot of serious things were happening to both of us and we needed to commiserate. The… Read More

Sharing Your Personal Stories

July 29th, 2011
Posted By:

Hi Everyone!!! Cry, Laugh, Heal is a place where all are welcome, where the sad, silly and satisfying aspects of grief and resilience are explored.  Everyone is welcome to join in and share their experiences about loss and trying to get back into the groove of living life.  We learn from each other plus you never know when your story may help someone else struggling with their grief feelings. When we share our thoughts and feelings with others, we find we are not alone. It may feel as though it is only happening to you, but then when you reach… Read More

Amy Winehouse

July 25th, 2011
Posted By:

Amy Winehouse was with us for only 27 years.  But in that short time her artistic flame burned hot and bright even as she continually battled for control over her addiction to drugs and alcohol. Artistically she broke new ground, writing and recording bluesy, hard-rocking songs addressing heartbreak and her self-destructive lifestyle.  Yet for her family and millions of fans, there was always the hope that she would turn things around and bring her demons under control. Very sadly, that was not to be and we are left with the gift of her incredible music.  One of my favorites from… Read More

Harry Potter & His Parents

July 22nd, 2011
Posted By:

Hi readers!  Today we have a guest blogger, Ryan O’Toole, a rising senior at Fordham University, and in the interest of full disclosure, my son: Isn’t it funny that there are words for people whose spouses die?  A woman whose husband dies is called a widow, while a man whose wife dies is called a widower. Now the sheer existence of these words might not seem odd to you at face value, but doesn’t it strike you as a weird oversight of the English language that we do not have words for children who lose a parent?  I have thought… Read More