Posts Tagged: sympathy

Silly Family Laughter

February 5th, 2016
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Irish proverb

My 88-year-old Dad misplaced his checkbook last week and over the weekend a full-on, pull-out-all-the-plugs search effort was executed by our mom, me, my five siblings and even a few grandchildren.

We asked our Dad a million questions about the last time he used the checkbook and the last time he remembered seeing it.  We prayed to St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost items, and then finally our Dad decided to call the bank since St. Anthony didn’t deliver the goods.  Thankfully, the bank said there was no activity on the account and no checks had been written on … Read More

Help! I Can’t Find The Right Card

December 7th, 2015
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This has happened to me at least a million times and I bet this has happened to you too! You find yourself in the card section of CVS or your local card store and you’ve been standing there for about 10 to 15 minutes scanning the cards, taking them out one by one, reading them and then quickly rejecting them and putting them back. Totally Dissatisfied. Nope. Nope. Nope. When that happens, here’s what I’m usually thinking: I so liked the picture or drawing on that particular card and it was so so close to what I was looking for… Read More

Helping Teenagers With Grief

December 19th, 2014
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We are deep into the season of celebrating the holidays and messages of merriness are everywhere. Photo Courtesy of Huffington Post But what happens to teenagers when they are trying to cope with school and social pressures and then the parent of one of their friends dies? Or someone in their family dies? Adults are busy tending to shopping, decorating, cooking and organizing so it could be fairly easy to miss that the teenagers in your life might be having some difficulties at this time of year.  Are they spending a little bit more time by themselves or are they… 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

When In Doubt

January 20th, 2014
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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

Downton Abbey

January 19th, 2014
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Today I join millions of Downton Abbey fans who can’t wait to watch a new episode tonight. I am arriving at the Downton Abbey party very late, for I watched my very first episode last Sunday at the home of some great friends who have watched the popular series from the beginning.  This was very helpful to me because they were able to tell me exactly what was happening, who the characters were in relation to each other and the intricate backstory of different storylines. I’m not sure why I didn’t embrace this amazing award-winning series earlier.  I think I… Read More

A Generous Heart

August 13th, 2013
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I saw this letter yesterday and it reminded me that a new school year will be starting soon.  With the beginning of a new school year, perhaps teachers and student will be dealing with conflicting emotions about losses or illnesses that happened over the summer. When a friend or an acquaintance is grieving from the loss of a loved one, it is natural to want to reach out and make them feel better.  One of the greatest gifts we can give is listening.  Even if you don’t know what to say, we can always listen; listen as the person talks… Read More

Keeping Love In Your Heart

May 29th, 2013
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The best and most beautiful things in the world  cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart.                                     ~ Helen Keller The human heart is an amazing organ isn’t it?  We fall in love, break up, and then perhaps fall in love over and over again, testing the resiliance of our courageous yet vulnerable hearts. Somehow, throughout our lives, we ride this emotional rollercoaster and our hearts manage to survive the ride and keep on beating. When a relationship doesn’t work out, we are sad but eventually we pick ourselves up and carry on until… 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