Moving Day

May 6th, 2013
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I received a couple of texts over the weekend from a friend who lives in another city about how he now lives in a new place.

I didn’t know he had moved from his home of almost 20 years so I was surprised by his news but I also knew that there was more to the story than just a regular heave-ho move from one place to another.

My friend lost his wife to cancer a number of years ago and she was a wonderful and talented person, but she also was the kind of person who kept everything.  She … Read More

Making A New Bedroom

March 18th, 2013
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On the weekends, I like to try and organize myself.Sometimes I succeed in my de-clutter efforts and sometimes I don’t.  During the work week, I have a very bad habit of throwing clothes and papers into piles.  By the time the weekend rolls around, I know I have to deal with the piles and hang stuff up and throw things away. This past weekend marked a milestone for me because I just had my bedroom painted and most of the stuff that was under my bed,  hanging on wall and door hooks and on top of my furniture was in… Read More

Breaking Out of Expectations

February 4th, 2013
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Photo Courtesy NY Daily News When I write about rebuilding our lives after a loss, I don’t mean to make it sound as though I suddenly woke up one morning and decided “today is the day I’m going to try to put a brand new life together.” Instead, what I really mean to say is that it is a step-by-step process; figuring out what to do after your loved one has died is a much more subtle process that usually evolves slowly, almost as though you were hesitantly putting your toes into a cold ocean and getting used to the… 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

Finding Grief Support

October 24th, 2012
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I recently went back to the beginning of Cry Laugh Heal and read my the first post from 2010 and it brought all the crazy grieving feelings back to me: exhaustion, numbness, raw emotions, the scary future and sometimes even laughter! But it also reminded how great my support group was during that time and how it gave me the priceless gift of hope and helped me feel that life really would get better (somehow?!?!) even though my sweetheart of a husband died.  As I met with my small group twice a month, some sessions were incredibly upsetting and some… Read More

A Resilient Giants Victory

February 6th, 2012
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Ron Antonelli/New York Daily News Part of healing and jumping back into the regular routine of life is finding something to care about.  It can be anything in the whole universe and you can change it anytime you want. Yesterday, for me, it was the New York Giants and their 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots. The Super Bowl party I attended was loose and friendly in the beginning of the game but it became a little more tense in the fourth quarter as the clock ticked away and the game looked like it would be decided by one… Read More

Five Hundred Twenty Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes

December 23rd, 2011
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Happy Birthday Cry, Laugh Heal!  Yup.  It has actually been one whole year since Cry, Laugh Heal was launched as a blog and I really can’t believe it. How would I measure my first year of blogging? In friendship, in kindness, and in support. That’s what blogging has meant to me.  It has opened up a new world of connecting with others on an emotional level and also has given me new resources for information and that is exhilarating.   Along with my son’s help, I pushed myself to learn something new and I am so glad that I did.   … Read More

Bridge of Love

November 11th, 2011
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Photograph by Philippe GaravelIn Paris, lovers fasten padlocks to the railings of the Pont des Arts bridge.  The couple then tosses  the keys into the Seine river below, symbolizing their eternal love. Happy Friday everyone!  The following quote is from the last paragraph of the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thorton Wilder. I’m sharing it because I think it captures the essence of what we all strive to do while we are trying rebuilding our lives after the loss of a person near and dear to us: “We ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten. … Read More