Posts Tagged: holidays

Staying Young At Heart

November 16th, 2012
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Next week is Thanksgiving!! How did that happen?
The calendar says November (I checked it!) but I feel I’m still mentally stuck in the summertime.  I really am having a hard time this year getting used to daylight savings time and the day turning dark so early.  It doesn’t feel great to leave work, walk out of the building and it’s already night time.  It is just not my thing at all.  I love it when it is 7 or 8 o’clock at night and it’s still light outside!
It’s the best!
Plus this year, Thanksgiving seems early and then … Read More

Holiday Mental Health

December 22nd, 2011
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New York Daily News Photo The holidays are all around us and sometimes it feels as though the songs, the decorations and even the food are reminders of the beloved people we lost. This time of year can be especially difficult for those of us in search of a place of peace.  We quietly ache for the presence of a particular person we loved and grieve for while we also try to live in this season of celebration. If you feel as though you are at that point of bearing too much, it’s okay to take a break from your… Read More

Walking In A Winter Wonderland

December 15th, 2011
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Songs can be powerful time machines.  Sometimes all it takes is hearing the first few notes or strands of a melody and YOU ARE THERE. It is amazing to me how a song has the uncanny ability to mentally fast track you to a place you haven’t thought about in years. Recently, I was driving my car home in the oh so unpleasant nightly commute of bumper to bumper traffic on Connecticut Avenue. I found myself pushing the radio buttons over and over because there were so many commercials playing and I was getting annoyed.  Yada, yada, yada. I was… Read More

The Month of Thanks

November 18th, 2011
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A Bowl of Hot Smashed Spuds…YUMMMM As we ready for that time of year when we traditionally pause and give thanks, this year may be hard for some to find a reason to be thankful. If you recently lost a loved one, a holiday celebration can exacerbate all the jumbled up feelings you are experiencing and trying to understand. Thanksgiving was the first holiday that my son and I experienced following my husband’s death.  Our son was thirteen at the time and he and I decided to stay with our usual Thanksgiving routine of having dinner at my parent’s house… Read More

Changing Up Thanksgiving?

November 14th, 2011
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A Thanksgiving Cookout? Most people don’t want to try something new for Thanksgiving dinner.  They usually want the same food that has been served to them at every Thanksgiving dinner since they were a child because it’s comforting and to them, it defines Thanksgiving dinner. It’s all about tradition. Not that there is anything wrong with tradition.  But life can also be about surprises and choices.  Maybe you have some Thanksgiving or other holiday ritual you’d like to eliminate or introduce.  That’s why I like the following column…. Make Your Own Thanksgiving Is it time to make your own Thanksgiving… Read More

Feeling Like A Firework

July 2nd, 2011
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  This July 4th holiday weekend may be your first holiday without a loved one.  It may be full of poignant memories, making it difficult to participate and enjoy the fireworks, parades and backyard cook-outs. I recently found some helpful suggestions on healing from Capital Hospice’s Survivor’s Guide and thought I would share the following in case you are having a difficult time: — It is okay to feel lousy.  Some days will be worse than others.  There is no logical progression to these feelings and that is okay. –Cry if you need to. –In dealing with guilt associated with… Read More

Humor Therapy

March 5th, 2011
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Do you know there is actually a medical term for using humor to help yourself feel better? According to WebMD, humor therapy or therapeutic humor, purposely uses the power of smiles and laughter to promote healing and distract the person from pain, or in this case, the emotional confusion permeating your life while grieving. New grief is all about learning to live with a sense of unreality.  Unfortunately, until you actually experience this raw emotion, you can’t really imagine how it feels.  You think you know, you think you can conjure up those feelings of deep pain but it doesn’t… Read More

Holidays 101

January 11th, 2011
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This is to all of you who white-knuckled it through the holidays … After eight years of celebrating the holidays without my deceased husband, I know this for sure: you can make the holidays anything you want them to be. Only you know how much you can take of the 24-hour holiday music that follows you wherever you go, the marathon holiday parties and the general holly jolly holiday atmosphere. This may sound simplistic but it’s not. You need to give yourself permission to do what you think you can handle and nothing more. You don’t have to celebrate the… Read More