In Grief: Helping The Widower of My Best Friend

Can I see another's woe, and not be in sorrow too? Can I see another's grief, and not seek for kind relief?  ~ William Blake

A reader writes: My best friend was only 38 when she died from kidney cancer two years ago, just three days before Christmas. While I still miss her terribly and cry sometimes when I think of her, I think I’m grieving OK. I live on the east coast and my friend's widower and twin daughters, now seven, live in the west. We were all friends long before they married, stationed together at the same US military base many years ago.

Understanding and Managing Grief & Pet Loss, June 13 - June 19, 2021

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

When compared with every other human group with whom grievers typically interact, animals provided significantly more support than family, friends, colleagues, therapists, social workers, medical staff, spiritual providers and more. Too often with humans, fear gets in the way of love. Animals simply just show up. Social work professor Joanne Cacciatore explores animals’ abilities to help those dealing with grief « ASU News

In Grief: Nursing Student Struggles With Father Loss

No matter how old we are, we still need our dads, and wonder how we’ll get by without them.  ~ Jennifer Williamson

A reader writes: I guess you can say I am new at this. I don't even know if you can relate, and help ME understand what I am going through. I am a single, 22-year old who just lost my father due to a lung disease. I'm a fulltime nursing student with two months until I graduate with my BS in nursing. It’s just a bad time to feel lost and alone. It’s a struggle just to sit in class and not cry somedays... and everyone around me pretends nothing ever happened. How can I possibly deal with my father's death when life won't slow down long to even breathe?

Understanding and Managing Grief, June 6 - June 12, 2021

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

Given that the risk of a healthy child dying is between zero and infinitesimally rare, it's understandable that many parents are appropriately asking, why vaccinate healthy kids at all?  Think Twice Before Giving the COVID Vax to Healthy Kids « MedPage Today 

Those persons who have never experienced what I refer to as “crushing, gut-busting, overwhelming, debilitating grief” might legitimately ask: Does Grief Hurt? « Centering and Grief Digest Magazine 

Pet Loss: Spiritual Beliefs and Prayer

The wish to pray is a prayer in itself.

~ Georges Bernanos

A reader writes: I know you've worked with people who've lost pets and I'm just wondering: Do you follow any particular belief system or religious point of view when it comes to animals? Such as Native American belief in the spirit of all things, or the Celtic belief in pets as familiars or any esoteric school of thought? And do you ever pray for or pray with your pet(s) or other people and their pets?

Understanding and Managing Grief, May 30 - June 5, 2021

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

Loneliness and isolation are a giant cause of suffering for grieving people. Try these five tips on how to cope with the loneliness of grief.  Five Ways to Manage Your Grief and Loneliness « Refuge In Grief

A core set of principles separate those who make good and bad policy decisions. Op-Ed: Will the Real COVID Experts Please Stand Up? « MedPage Today 

Coping with Dreams in Grief

I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart for so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can be together all the time.  ~ A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

A reader writes: I'm pretty sure there are a lot of topics about this but I wanted to ask if others have these really vivid dreams in which their lost loved one was still alive, but after waking up you realize she's not there anymore. How do you deal with that and when did the dreams go away? The dreams are strangely comforting but the feeling when you wake up is just devastating.

Understanding and Managing Grief, May 23 - May 29, 2021

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

We may not travel to Washington D.C. this Memorial Day, but we can take time to pause and remember, to honor the fallen in our own individual and personal ways, and most especially to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the precious members of their families who mourn their losses each and every day. Memorial Day « Grief Healing

In Grief: Learning Independence at 40, Bereaved Daughter Shares Her Progress

If you truly want to be respected by people you love, you must prove to them that you can survive without them.  ~ Michael Bassey Johnson

A reader writes: I am presently not doing as well as I did in the past, I think it is because I think about this time last year and I was still in my old house caring for my parents until they both died, and now I am in the new one, and I guess I am just missing the old one a little bit… I still miss mom and dad but I think a lot of it is because I am lonely and think of them as my family and now I feel I have no one. The reason I am writing to you is to ask if you could help me with a problem I have. I am scared to death to learn how to drive...

Understanding and Managing Grief, May 16 - May 22, 2021

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

Originally designated as a day “to cherish tenderly the memory of our heroic dead,” Memorial Day is held on the last Monday of May each year. The holiday offers us a great opportunity to recognize and honor the sacrifice of these dedicated service members and their families. Making the Most of Memorial Day « Grief Healing