Posts Tagged: loss

Internet Loss

March 27th, 2014
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Have our electronic devices separated us from each other so much that it’s now normal to text people about a loved one’s death?Has it become routine to attend the funeral of a friend or a loved one and start snapping selfies?Why would someone let their cellphone ring during a funeral service and then answer it and continue talking?We are in a strange state of communications today.

The first time I saw a selfie taken at a funeral I have to say I was really shocked.

I didn’t know the young girl in the picture but she tweeted a picture of … Read More

L’Wren Scott

March 20th, 2014
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One of my sisters and I were talking on the phone the other day about the tragic news that fashion designer L’Wren Scott had been found dead in her New York City apartment at the age of 49. We talked about what the news stories were reporting — that she had used a scarf to hang herself, that she designed such beautiful, beautiful clothes, that she was so glamorous herself and that she was the longtime girlfriend of  Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. More importantly, we reiterated to each other that no matter what was happening to us, we… Read More

Giving Comfort

March 4th, 2014
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Yesterday was a snow day in Washington, DC with the local and federal governments shut down and people resigning themselves to once again bundle up and go out and shove and clear their cars of winter’s one two punch: ice and snow. Before I braved the outdoors, I indulgently hung out in my pajamas and worked on the computer, answering emails and checking out Twitter for Oscar gossip.  I also made use of my snow day by tackling a large stack of magazines in my home office and in hopes of ridding myself of some unnecessary clutter. I came upon… Read More

Beyond His Clutter

February 21st, 2014
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Oh my goodness I can so identify with the story that I am sharing with you today. It’s a story titled, 54 Drawers, and it’s about a daughter who thoughtfully and lovingly is going through the drawers and drawers of file cabinets containing huge amounts of paper her recently deceased father stored in the office of his house. In my case it was and still is the papers that my late husband left in his office.  Over the years, I have made a lot of progress and thrown out lots and lots of boxes containing everything from old bills, old… Read More

Say Yes to Empowerment

February 18th, 2014
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The essence of resilience is bouncing back to a healthy place after you have been counted out. Emotionally resilient people recognize that some good can come from even the most traumatic events.  Not only are people resilient but cities can be too.  Look at New York City.  In the 1970’s, New York City was a dangerous place.  It’s economy was on the verge of collapse and its streets and subways were full of crime and gangs and homeless people.  People could not find jobs.  Traveling to New York City today, there is hardly any evidence of its darker and grittier… Read More

Pulling Together

January 29th, 2014
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I began writing Cry Laugh Heal in December 2010 to start an online discussion about grief and resilience, in particular to talk about the many ways we process it and how we can arrive at the realization that we can find strength and a different kind of future through our pain. My husband died in 2003 and I found that grief was not a topic most people wanted to talk about.  What a surprise right?  Of course, it was a subject I could go on and on about but in general it really makes people feel very uncomfortable and they… Read More

Confessions of A Mediocre Widow By Catherine Tidd

December 20th, 2013
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The title of Catherine Tidd’s new book suggests she is a mediocre widow. Don’t believe it for one second. Catherine Tidd is quite the opposite.  Catherine Tidd is in fact a courageous, smart and very funny woman in search of herself and an entirely different life while raising three young children after the death of her beloved husband, Brad, in a tragic motorcycle accident in 2007. Her book is refreshing and down-to-earth and is full of painful and funny personal insights about what happened to her after the death of her spouse: the hospital, the funeral, her in-laws, the whole… Read More

A Buddhist Rice Bowl

November 26th, 2013
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Here Is Something To Think About. . . . “In Zen Buddhism, there’s a concept called ‘zen mind,’ or beginner’s mind.’  They say that the mind should be like an empty rice bowl. If it’s already full, then the universe can’t fill it. If it’s empty, it has room to receive. This means that when we think we have things figured out, we’re not teachable.  Genuine insight can’t dawn on a mind that’s not open to receive it. Surrender is a process of emptying the mind.”                                   ~ By Marianne Williamson, “A Return To Love, Reflections on the Principles of A… Read More

Nate Berkus Moves Forward

November 25th, 2013
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When I share stories on this blog about my travels with grief over the past several years, I do so in the hopes that it will help others cope with their losses.  Grief can be isolating even though I believe most people want to connect with others and especially those who have been where they are when they experience a loss.I think everyone wants to feel that someone, anyone gets what’s going on with them; especially at this time of the year. One of the ways I found a connection was through reading.  In the beginning of grieving the loss… Read More