News

by Kerry Phillips The new year offers a time for reflection and looking ahead. For the widowed community, it can be a double-edged sword: wanting to move forward while holding onto the precious memories of a late spouse. With so much hurt and pain in the world, especially the COVID-19 pandemic, I encourage you to consider the following four Gs while working on 2021 resolutions: Grace Give yourself grace throughout 2021. You survived the hell of 2020. Whether you made...

by Maria Kubitzhttps://www.aliveinmemory.org The holidays can be a difficult and isolating time for people who are grieving the death of a loved one. Lonely from the isolation they feel at secretly – or not so secretly – resenting the joy the season brings. Resentful because they are filled with despair so deep that it colors their every thought. The overwhelming pain of missing someone so dear to them leaves them feeling it would have been easier if the world itself had just...

by Lisa K Boehmhttps://www.lisakboehm.com/post/christmas-after-child-loss   How can you possibly go on after you lose a child? And how on earth, can you celebrate Christmas? There's a hole in your family. Someone very important is missing - your child. We were faced with that reality 17 days before Christmas in December 2015. That day, I decided to take the afternoon off of work and spent the afternoon Christmas shopping for my two kids. I was behind on everything that year! I...

by Eleanor Haleyhttps://whatsyourgrief.com Last night I watched ABC’s special “The Untold Story of ‘The Sound of Music.’” I stopped on the special because I thought it would be a harmless and happy break from the murder and deception of HBO’s, The Jinx, which I had just finished watching. I was wrong. Remember when we told you that grief triggers tend to pop up when you least expect them? Well, thats exactly what happened when last night my delightful romp through Salzburg, Austria with Diane Sawyer and Julie Andrews...

by Mackenzi Kingdonwww.restorationcounselingseattle.com Whenever I have a client well-versed in scary movies, I like to bring up the movie "The Babadook". Warning! Some spoilers are coming... In the movie The Babadook, a grief-stricken single mother and her attention-seeking son are haunted by a boogieman like monster called the Babadook. He is frightening, unpredictable, and most certainly unwelcome.  He gains entry into the house when the young boy reads a book about him. After he enters, he terrorizes the mother and her son...

By Eleanor Haleyhttps://whatsyourgrief.com So, you’ve recently acquired a brand new grief monster. Not on purpose, of course. No one willingly invites a grief monster into their lives. They just show up–like a fly that snuck in through a crack in an open window–and no matter how much you flail and swat, you can’t seem to make it go away. Except unlike a fly, grief monsters are more than just annoying. They’re downright destructive as they drag their too-long limbs and massive tail...