Posts Tagged: traditions

A Broken Christmas Ritual

December 31st, 2013
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I can’t tell you why but for the first time in many years, I didn’t place a Christmas wreath on my husband’s marker at the cemetery.
I thought about it.  I was going to do it.  But then I never did get around to it.
I’m hoping that this doesn’t make me a bad person.I’m really hoping it just makes me a conflicted human being dealing with life the best way I know.Every Christmas since he died 10 years ago, I have made a personal ceremony out of placing a large Christmas wreath with a big red bow on his … Read More

Newtown On Labor Day

September 2nd, 2013
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Today is Labor Day and I have the day off from work.  YEAH!!! I hope you do too! Maybe you are planning to go to a friend’s house for a special holiday meal or you are going to cook for your family.  Or maybe you’re just hangin’ at your own house catching up on personal projects.  Or maybe you’re going to go to an afternoon picnic or watch a community parade. In Newtown, Connecticut today, there will be a parade.  A parade of love and community and healing. It will be same parade that thousands of residents have watched and… 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

A Healing Circle of Life

December 7th, 2011
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It’s the holiday season and wreaths are everywhere.  Doors, windows, large buildings and small, I see them indoors and outdoors, even on trucks and cars.  Evergreens, berries, pinecones, and magnolia leaves, the materials that wreaths are made of today seem endless.  If they’re not chock full of tacky plastic stuff, wreaths are welcoming signs, hopeful signs and even peaceful signs. Wreaths are also a sign of faith in humanity and its circular shape represents eternity, for a wreath has no beginning and no end.   Wreaths have been with us since the ancient Greeks and Romans when wreaths were awarded to… 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