In Grief: Coping with Multiple Losses

Source

[Reviewed and updated April 6, 2024]

You don't think you'll live past it, and you don't really. The person you were is gone, but the half of you that's still alive wakes up one day and takes over again.  ~ Barbara Kingsolver

A reader writes: Over the past 3 years I've lost four close friends to various types of cancer. It's been hard for me to deal with this adversity, but I have an especially difficult time with the fact that when someone dies I feel very sad about them dying and then if someone else dies, the more recent death seems to consume me and I forget just how painful losing my other friend was. I want to remember all of my friends so I feel guilty for letting the pain associated with their death leave me to be replaced by another. Is this typical for someone like me? Just wondered. Thanks.

Caregiving and Hospice, April 10 - April 23, 2016

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream:

A Love Letter – “You Are The Light of Hospice,” http://j.mp/1P9oiAD « Hospice Times

Podcast: Using the Independent Death Doula in Healthcare, http://j.mp/1T3nQ6f « Hospice Times

Your anger towards doctors is misplaced, http://j.mp/214f65Z « Kevin MD

Understanding and Managing Grief, April 10 - April 23, 2016

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream:

On guilt: Helpful vs. Harmful Thoughts, http://j.mp/1rqyHBl « Open to Hope

On asking why? A Terrible Saturday Morning, http://j.mp/1SBOJUF « Open to Hope

I Still Grieve my Father's Silence, http://j.mp/1T3XReU « Open to Hope

In Grief: Trying To Forget

Source

Trying to forget someone you love is like trying to remember someone you never met.  ~ Unknown

A reader writes: It's been a week since the fifth anniversary of my Mum's passing. Since then, I have found that I'm trying to forget about it. Putting it to the back of my mind and hoping it doesn't appear in a conversation. Is that wrong? It’s also been six months since I visited the cemetery, but it's not because I find it hard to go there, I suppose I feel that it's not important to. Is that wrong?

Caregiving and Hospice, April 3 - April 9, 2016

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

How a Service Dog Saved My Life, http://j.mp/1q4PwjY « HuffPost Accessibility

In Facing Death: We Are All So Different, http://j.mp/1VteQMq « Grief Watch

21 Communication Tips from Persons Living with Alzheimer's and dementia, http://j.mp/1S0CxGn « Alzheimer's Reading Room

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below.

If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Understanding and Managing Grief, April 3 - April 9, 2016

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

Updated today: Tips for Coping with Sleeplessness in Grief, http://bit.ly/hkoXnZ « Grief Healing

What You Give Me, http://j.mp/1Vblvfj « Widower's Grief

The Rules of Grief Are for Other People, https://shar.es/1jml2W « The Good Men Project

Coping with Pet Loss, April 3 - April 9, 2016

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

The Privilege of Living With a Pet, http://j.mp/203umPQ « The Huffington Post

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below.

If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Voices of Experience: Standing Up for What You Need When Grieving

by Michelle Jarvie

Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people. ~ Spencer Johnson

In an article I wrote earlier this year, I shared the letter I wish I could’ve received after my husband was killed. It focused on validation and simplifying expectations for the truly important things to do in those initial months. It also held hope: for various coping mechanisms, helping others through grief, and in someday being a mother.

Caregiving and Hospice, March 27 - April 2, 2016

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

ZDoggMD: I was wrong about vaccines, http://j.mp/1ZTJ5wQ « Kevin MD

New Music App for Alzheimer's Patients, Caregivers, and Family, http://j.mp/1X1mwV9 « Alzheimer's Reading Room

Who’s In Your Care Crew? http://j.mp/1M2UW9y « The Unprepared Caregiver

Understanding and Managing Grief, March 27 - April 2, 2016

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

No One Ever Told Me That Grief Felt so Like Fear, http://j.mp/1pUdKgL « Christina Rasmussen

Updated today: Grief Bibliography, http://bit.ly/9J8Wa4 « Grief Healing

Spousal Loss: What Legacy of Loss Are You Passing on to Others? http://j.mp/1RRkVmH « Open to Hope

Coping with Pet Loss, March 27 - April 2, 2016

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

Pet funeral home eases grief of animal lovers, http://j.mp/1SG7tPu « Tulsa World

Grieving Our Pets, http://j.mp/1Y0TV2k « HuffPost (Common Grief)

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below.

If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.