Sunday, May 29, 2011

Giving Thanks on Memorial Day

[Reviewed and updated May 22, 2024]

While Thanksgiving is about appreciation for what you got, Memorial Day is so much deeper. It's appreciation for those who died to give you what you got.
~Doug Koktavy

When I think of Memorial Day and what it means to me, I think of how blessed I am to live in this country, where freedom still rings, even though at times we may abuse some of the freedoms we have. I think of the fallen soldiers who've paid the ultimate price that we might continue to live free, even though we so often take our freedom for granted. I also think of the families, friends and loved ones of the fallen, the unsung heroes struggling to survive in the face of unspeakable loss. I cannot imagine the depth of their pain. I don't know how to thank them for their sacrifice, save to say that I am deeply grateful ~ and promise to remember them, as I hold each and every one of them in gentle thought and prayer.



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© by Marty Tousley, RN, MS, FT, BC-TMH

Understanding and Managing Grief, May 22 - May 28

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Caregiving and Hospice, May 22 - May 28

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  • Pet therapy dogs at my hospice are called 'hospets,' via

Coping with Pet Loss, May 22 - May 28, 2011

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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Helping Children Cope with A Pet's Euthanasia

[Reviewed and updated December 8, 2022]

Choosing to euthanize a cherished companion animal is difficult enough for adults who are faced with such a horrible decision. What's even harder for many parents is finding a way to help their children understand and accept the fact that the time has come to help the pet to die.

Trying to overprotect their children from grief, parents may make the mistake of overlooking, minimizing or avoiding altogether the pain caused by the death of a family pet. Sadly, in so doing they will have missed a valuable opportunity to teach their children a very powerful lesson in coping with the painful reality of death.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, May 15 - May 21

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Understanding and Managing Grief, May 15 - May 21

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

Coping with Pet Loss, May 15 - May 21

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:
  • What the Future May Hold for Your Pet's Euthanasia,  via Vet Wisdom® CafĂ©

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, May 8 - May 14

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Understanding and Managing Grief, May 8 - May 14

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Coping with Pet Loss, May 7 - May 14

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Monday, May 9, 2011

Honoring Hospice Nurses: National Nurses Week, May 6 - May 12

Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts.  ~ Florence Nightingale

Every year, one week is set aside to focus the nation’s attention on the diverse ways America's 3.1 million registered nurses work to save lives and to improve the health of millions of individuals.  National Nurses Week begins on May 6, marked as RN Recognition Day, and ends on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, founder of nursing as a modern profession.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, May 1 - May 7

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Coping with Pet Loss, May 1 - May 7

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Understanding and Managing Grief, May 1 - May 7

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Monday, May 2, 2011

A Mother's Day Tribute

[Reviewed and updated May 1, 2022]

Your mother will never leave you.  She persists like an echo after the source has gone.
  ~ Unknown

The following was written for Good Housekeeping Magazine by Temple Bailey in 1933.  In the days leading up to Mother's Day this year, I offer it here as a special tribute to my own mother, and to yours:

The young mother set her foot on the path of life.

"Is this the long way?" she asked.

And the Guide said, "Yes, and the way is hard.  And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning."

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Caregiving and Hospice, April 24 - April 30

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Understanding and Managing Grief, April 24 - April 30

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Coping with Pet Loss, April 24 - April 30

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