Friday, December 23, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, December 18 - 23, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Understanding and Managing Grief, December 18 - 23, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Coping with Pet Loss, December 18 - 23, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Understanding and Managing Grief, December 11 - December 17, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Caregiving and Hospice, December 11 - December 17, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Coping with Pet Loss, December 11 - December 17, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Monday, December 12, 2011

Voices of Experience: Helen's Christmas Gift

From the heart of Bill Whittaker

My wife, Helen, and Fred Astaire went way back. At least, it seemed that way to me. It started in the 1960s, when Helen moved from Connecticut to Chicago to take a job as a dance instructor at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in the Loop district.

Some twenty years later, Helen and I were in Paris when Fred Astaire died. We got the news on television – French television. Our language challenge was broken when a Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movie was broadcast in tribute to the deceased dancer.

Now, nearly 20 years after Fred Astaire's death, Helen was dead, too. She had been totally bedridden for the last four years of her life. During that time, we watched a lot of television, a lot of movies. We watched Rogers and Astaire musicals whenever they were broadcast. We liked those movies. They always made us feel good.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, December 4 - December 10, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Understanding and Managing Grief, December 4 - December 10, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:
  • In this touching video, a widow eulogizes her "beautifully imperfect" husband, http://j.mp/vCvmdb

  • Grief: Counting the Days, Weeks, Months « Bertram's Blog, j.mp/skCTs7

  • When There Is No Jingle In The Bells - Grief Healing Discussion Groups, http://j.mp/v5OWVE

  • Blogs (and Books) for Bereaved Parents http://j.mp/v577pf

  • Understanding Secondary Losses In Grief - Grief Healing Discussion Groups, http://j.mp/sfnbWR

Coping with Pet Loss, December 4 - December 10, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, November 27 - December 3, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Understanding and Managing Grief, November 27 - December 3, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Coping with Pet Loss, November 27 - December 3, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, November 20 - November 26, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Understanding and Managing Grief, November 20 - November 26, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Coping with Pet Loss, November 20 - November 26, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Friday, November 25, 2011

Engage with Grace, 2011

Occupy With Grace

Once again, this Thanksgiving we are grateful to all the people who keep this mission alive day after day: to ensure that each and every one of us understands, communicates, and has honored their end of life wishes.

Seems almost more fitting than usual this year, the year of making change happen. 2011 gave us the Arab Spring, people on the ground using social media to organize a real political revolution. And now, love it or hate it - it's the Occupy Wall Street movement that's got people talking.

Smart people (like our good friend Susannah Fox) have made the point that unlike those political and economic movements, our mission isn't an issue we need to raise our fists about - it's an issue we have the luxury of being able to hold hands about.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, November 13 - November 19, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Understanding and Managing Grief, November 13 - November 19, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Coping with Pet Loss, November 13 - November 19, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Monday, November 14, 2011

Using Children's Books to Help with Grief

[Reviewed and updated June 18, 2023]

There is no substitute for books in the life of a child.  ~ Mary Ellen Chase

Helping children understand death and the powerful emotions that come with any disappointment or loss is not easy, especially when other members of the family may be grieving, too. When adults are struggling with major life events such as divorce, serious illness, an accident, fire, natural disaster, a crisis in the world or the death of someone close, children may feel lost, frightened and confused. Under such circumstances, they need stable and consistent attention from their caregivers, accurate and factual information, and freedom to ask questions and express their feelings. Like the adults around them, they need time to explore and come to terms with the meaning of their loss.

One of the most effective ways to help children understand normal grief reactions ~ their own and that of the people around them ~  is to tell them a story, or you can read together one of the many wonderful children's books now available on loss, dying, death and grief.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, November 6 - November 12, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Understanding and Managing Grief, November 6 - November 12, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:
  • Handling Grief through the Holiday Season, The Compassionate Friends Webinar on Thursday, November 17, 8-9 pm EST; register at http://t.co/ffKp0Uap
  • Therese Rando on Interventions after Traumatic Death, ADEC webinar on Wednesday, November 16 by  

Coping with Pet Loss, November 6 - November 12, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Monday, November 7, 2011

Veterans Day, 2011: Honoring All Who Served

Our country has established two holidays ~ Veterans Day and Memorial Day ~ to honor the men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States. Unlike Memorial Day (the day we set aside to remember and honor military personnel who died in the service of our country), Veterans Day is intended to thank and honor all those who served honorably in the military, in wartime or peacetime, as well as those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle. Veterans Day is intended to thank Veterans and their families for their service, to acknowledge that their contributions to our national security are appreciated, and to underscore the fact that all those who served ~ not only those who died ~ have sacrificed and done their duty.

In addition to the Veterans Day National Ceremony held each year on November 11 at Arlington National Cemetery at 11 a.m., communities across America plan their own ways to observe the holiday ~ but you need not wait until that day to reach out to veterans and their families.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, October 30 - November 5, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Understanding and Managing Grief, October 30 - November 5, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Coping with Pet Loss, October 30 - November 5, 2011

Best selection from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Monday, October 31, 2011

National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, November 2011

By proclaiming November 2011 as National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization encourages every American to increase our understanding and awareness of care at the end of life and to observe this month with appropriate activities and programs.

Most of us have heard about hospice care.  We know that hospices care for people at the end of life. Many of us know a family or friend who was helped by hospice when faced with the serious illness and death of a loved one.  But there is so much more to know.

For example, did you know that hospice provides what the majority of Americans say they want at the end of life ~ excellent pain management, comfort, and support for the patient and family caregivers?

Here are ten more things you should know about hospice:

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, October 23 - October 29, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Understanding and Managing Grief, October 23 - October 29, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Coping with Pet Loss, October 23 - October 29, 2011

Best selection from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:
  • Mourning the loss of Bella the Dog, dear companion to elephant Tarra,  

Monday, October 24, 2011

Voices of Experience: The Pie Dish

It is the miracle of memory that transforms a houseful of stuff into a heritage of love and connection. ~ Emily Barnes, in Timeless Treasures: The Charm and Romance of Treasured Memories

Of her beloved grandmother who died earlier this year, the author of this lovely piece* writes, "My Grandma raised me, so she was more like my mom. She was my best friend ~ my biggest supporter ~ the only person I have ever felt would love me no matter what."

It is amazing how small things can take you back to the one you love. The way the sun streams in the window, a smell, a sound . . . little things.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, October 16 - October 22, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Understanding and Managing Grief, October 16 - October 22, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:
  • Book, Alone - For All Those Who Grieve by W. F. (Bill) Cento - Beautiful, touching, uplifting  via
  • Practical, helpful suggestions for Healing After Trauma: Open to Hope interview with Ed Tick,

Coping with Pet Loss, October 16 - October 22, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Monday, October 17, 2011

Finding Support for Pet Loss

[Reviewed and updated September 19, 2023]

If you are mourning the loss of a cherished pet, you may have some of the same questions and share some of the same concerns I often hear from other bereaved animal lovers:

How do I know when it is time to actually get some counseling for grief from loss of a pet?  Sometimes we wish that others would just be there for us without our having to ask. Unfortunately, when it comes to loss of a beloved animal companion, that’s not likely to happen. It’s not so much that others are cold and uncaring. If they’re not animal lovers and they’ve never had pets, or if they’ve never allowed themselves to become attached to animals as companions, there simply is no way for them to fully understand the attachment we had to the one who died, the significance of our loss and the depth of our pain.  They may unintentionally minimize our loss or, not wanting to see us hurt, discourage us from expressing our grief.  Sometimes the insensitivity of others can be even more painful for us than grief from the actual loss.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, October 9 - October 15, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Understanding and Managing Grief, October 9 - October 15, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:
  • Psychic Medium John Edward spends an hour with Anderson Cooper on Monday, October 17,
  • Light Up A Life: Hospice of the Valley's annual remembrance event, November 11, 20/11,

Coping with Pet Loss, October 9 - October 15, 2011

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Helping a Grieving Parent

A reader writes - My mom died six months ago after a long battle with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Knowing that she had a terminal illness and that she was in the end stages of this disease, our family agreed to take her off life supports. I thought I had this all figured out, her dying. I thought I was prepared for that day. Boy what a shock to myself. This has been the worst thing that I have been through. I miss my mom so much that I feel physically ill. I don't think you ever really get over it, just need to figure out how to live with it. Now I am very worried about my dad. He has shut down. He drinks too much. He sits on the couch watching TV. He says he has no ambition to do anything. He misses her badly and is very lonely. My adult children do not visit him because they don't know how to handle him. So I call everyday and visit, have him over two or three times a week for supper. I don't know how to help him start living again.