Posts Tagged: bereavement

Catching My Breath — Kelly Clarkson

February 20th, 2013
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Kelly Clarkson Singing at President Obama’s Inauguration

Five days a week, I drive to and from work and during that time I usually listen to the radio.  I have five stations that I randomly listen to depending on my mood and the pace of the traffic.

These days the song that currently makes me go directly to the volume button is Kelly Clarkson’s “Catch My Breath.”

It’s a song of strength, a song that gives me a boost of positive energy.

To me, the song has the vibe of someone who has survived some kind of a personal journey or … Read More

A New Day; A New Way

February 19th, 2013
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They say that sharing is caring and I care so much about my readers that when I read the below post yesterday from the Bereaved Partners Support Group (@BereavedPartner on Twitter), I couldn’t wait to share it with you. So many things in this article resonated with me: especially the idea of stepping into your fears and working through them to find something new in your changed life. Healing and recovery happen.  It may not feel as though this natural process is happening to you but it is.  You must believe in a new way of life and even a… Read More

Roger Rosenblatt’s Reflections

February 13th, 2013
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Some wonderful friends on the West Coast gave me Roger Rosenblatt’s book, Kayak Morning, as a Christmas present.  I was familiar with Rosenblatt as a writer for Time magazine and also as a columnist for The Washington Post, but was unfamiliar with the tragic death of his daughter, Amy Solomon,  a 38-year-old wife and mother of three children, from a heart condition. In Kayak Morning, which was written two years after Amy’s death, Rosenblatt explores the human experience of loss.  His descriptions of his grief and his reflections about his daughter Amy’s death are calm and straightforward yet poignant. It… Read More

It’s Your Road

February 5th, 2013
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Thought For The Day. . . I know this picture is a bit on the grainy side, but I really liked the sentiment of the saying: “It’s your road, and yours alone.   Others may walk it with you, But no one can walk it for you.” It would be nice if someone could take our place and walk on our road for awhile; perhaps making it less painful. Wouldn’t that be nice? But we don’t know where our road is going to take us, do we?  I believe that my road has been painful but it also has been a… Read More

In Written Sympathy

January 30th, 2013
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Yesterday I wrote a sympathy card to a man who once lived across the street from our family when I was growing up. Sadly, his wife died last week after suffering for about a year with a degenerative illness.  He could no longer take care of his wife by himself and instead moved her to a small caring medical facility a few blocks from their house.  It was a difficult decision for the whole family and I understand that he visited her almost every day.  I haven’t seen either one of them in years but they still are important people… Read More

Get Your S#%t Together

January 29th, 2013
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Are you one of those people who thinks that if they prepare to write their will that they are inviting tragedy to happen to them? Guess what?  It doesn’t work that way. Chanel Reynolds If you haven’t taken care of executing your will, and/or sharing bank account numbers with your spouse or partner, then you should do it today. Not to be an alarmist, but you really have no idea what is going to happen to you and you should be prepared.  Think of it as a gift that you are giving to the people that you love.  Life has… Read More

Dealing With “The Blues”

January 7th, 2013
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  Covered Bridge in West Cornwall, CT  By Thomas Schoeller I keep a folder of story ideas and I was search through it yesterday for timely stuff that I thought could help all of us in our different emotional journeys through our blessed lives.  Some of the ideas in my folder are things I have heard in conversations or on the radio or TV and other ideas are pieces of papers I clipped from newspapers and magazines. I came across the following bit of wisdom from The Washington Post’s Marguerite Kelly.  Kelly writes a popular and long-running advice column called… Read More

Do Not Look Away

December 23rd, 2012
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Courtesy of CNN.com     Hold a hand. give a hug.  Open your heart. We cannot not be afraid to offer comfort and empathy.  I know it’s difficult to step outside of yourself and reach out to others in pain. To find a way to comfort and empathize with someone in pain requires a certain amount of introspection; an ability to put the brakes on your own needs and try to put yourself in the other person’s place.  Compassion requires you to stop thinking about yourself and imagine what another person is feeling while dealing with a life crisis or… Read More

Newtown, Connecticut

December 15th, 2012
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Murdering a child is an unspeakable act. Yesterday’s horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT., which involved the shooting of 27 people, including 20 young children, leaves us asking questions about our culture and praying for the parents and the community at large. As a parent myself, I try to place myself in their situation, but I cannot begin to fathom the depth of pain and shock those parents are experiencing.  My heart goes out them and I wish we could take it all away. We must talk openly about this incident, as hard as it is,… Read More