Posts Tagged: funeral

Daddy Grief

March 13th, 2017
Posted By:

IMG_9499

My Dad and I Goofing Around

I miss my Dad.  A lot.

I miss hearing his voice, talking to him and hanging out with him.

I miss helping him with his eye drops, reading the newspaper to him and bringing him his favorite chicken salad sandwiches from Panera.

I miss the way he talked like Donald Duck and his funny way of telling a story.

His funeral was on March 2 and I am trying hard to figure out how to deal with his absence, the actual physical loss of him.

I went to my parents house yesterday and it … Read More

Do I Have To Go?

February 19th, 2016
Posted By:

      When I was a young child, maybe eight or nine years old, my Mom said something to me about the meaning of paying your last respects to those people whom you care about that has stayed with me my whole life. She was talking to me about a family funeral that she and my Dad were getting ready to attend. I remember it as one of those conversations where I followed her from room to room as she talked.  This was not unusual given that she had six children to keep track of so if you wanted… Read More

Final Resting

June 30th, 2014
Posted By:

When my husband died, (No matter how much times goes by, I still feel strange typing those awful words), our family felt comfortable choosing a traditional way of saying good-bye to him and paying our final respects: he was laid to rest in a beautiful coffin and we held a lively wake and Catholic Mass so that everyone could gather and share their precious memories of his short time with us. At that blurry point, our son and I were in the most vulnerable condition of our lives and so was everyone else who loved and adored him.  He was… Read More

A New York Lesson

January 28th, 2014
Posted By:

To have an uninterrupted block of time in which to read is to me a pure, unadulterated luxury. Don’t you just love that word luxury?  It just rolls off your tongue and sounds a bit sinful. Reading for pleasure is healing and similar to putting your foot on the brake of life, stopping your normal crunched up, sometimes scattered daily routine, and allowing your mind to travel elsewhere.  When I find a book that has a compelling story line I am mentally gone and immersed in the characters and their lives and lose all track of the passage of time. … Read More

When In Doubt

January 20th, 2014
Posted By:

If you have ever have doubts about talking to someone you hardly know about a recent loss in their life, please think twice about ignoring the subject. You may think you are doing the person a favor by not mentioning their loss or the name of the loved one that died, but it doesn’t really work that way. Acknowledging is important and helpful to you, and more importantly, to the person experiencing the loss.  It’s extending sympathy or compassion and even though it may be hard to do, it’s something that needs to be done.  So take a deep breath,… Read More

Can You Hear Me Now?

October 29th, 2013
Posted By:

It’s one thing to forget to turn your cell phone off and then have it ring while you are in church, in a job interview, at a funeral or in a theater, but it takes some major manipulation of a person’s ego to actually answer it while they are in those places. Right? Someone I didn’t know sat next to me during a play and her cell phone started ringing.  I immediately looked at her and she started searching her purse to find the phone.  I assumed that once she found it, she would just turn it off.  Wrong!! She… Read More

More Humor Therapy

March 12th, 2011
Posted By:

Grief is a journey that sets its own schedule. Grief is unique to the person and their relationship with the person who has died.  Some people cry, some talk, some paint and some even throw plates or other breakables to get rid of their frustration or anger.  Unfortunately, there is no set time for healing. It is always difficult to adjust to a life altering change and face the outside world on your own.  But since we are all in this together, it is essential to reach out and extend a helping hand and let others know they are not… Read More