Understanding and Managing Grief, June 2 - June 15, 2024

Best selections from Grief Healing's X feed this week: 

The hardest part of growing up? For me, it has to be watching my parents grow older. There’s this sudden realization that all things are finite and there’s an end to everything. Every time I think about this, the reality hits even harder. Coping With Grief: The Sight Of Parents Growing Old « Her Campus

Pet Loss: Death of A Service Dog

[Reviewed and updated July 30, 2024]

A service dog can mean a whole new way of life for the handicapped. The activities that able-bodied people take for granted now can be routine for the disabled also, with the help of a four-footed therapist.  ~ Janet Ruckert, EdD

A reader writes: I have been looking at your websites and the materials that you offer for pet loss. I'm wondering if any of it would be of help to me. I lost my dear sweet black Lab Service Dog to malignant melanoma just a few weeks ago. She was not a pet ~ she was my assistant and helper and light of my life for nine and a half years. She was my constant companion and went with me everywhere. She helped me every day both physically and emotionally. I use a wheelchair and a specially converted rampvan for mobility. If I fell my dog would go find help for me. Her loss has left an unbelievably huge hole in my heart. I let her go because I could not and would not let her continue to hurt like I know that she was. I need her so much and just can't seem to let myself get on with the things I need to do in my life without her.

Understanding and Managing Grief, April 28 - May 4, 2019

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

Hospice Journey, http://j.mp/2GTYZoG « Widower's Grief

‘My Death Stories Are My Birth Stories’ http://j.mp/2GUJJI3 « Modern Loss

We All Have A Grief Secret, http://j.mp/2H0tUjh « What's Your Grief?

Understanding and Managing Grief, June 10 - June16, 2018

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

Dating Again, http://j.mp/2MovGwm « Widower's Grief

The Big Question and the Perfect Answer,  http://j.mp/2Mlxo1z  « Modern Loss

My Friend Meniere: Standing Up To Disability, http://j.mp/2JN2QnS « Elaine Mansfield

Caregiving and Hospice, April 29 - May 5, 2018

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

Official Trailer for Graceful Death Documentary 'End Game' on Netflix, http://j.mp/2FL5Caj « FirstShowing.net

How Can Hospice Care Providers Help in the Later Stages of Cognitive Disabilities? http://j.mp/2KzNsf8 « Serenity Hospice

Five Tips for Families Facing End-of-Life Care, http://j.mp/2jwoBwK « TIME

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, August 28 - September 3, 2016

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

Your Grief is Terrifying to Those Around You, http://j.mp/2bHW7hL « Grief In Common

Powerful piece on child loss: No Longer the Victim: Emerging From Loss, http://j.mp/2bUONLV « Open to Hope

Pets Grieve Too, http://j.mp/2ci4dxG « Journey Care

Caregiving and Hospice, April 19 - April 25, 2015

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

We Need a Role Reversal in the Conversation on Dying, http://j.mp/1JBCmi5 « The New York Times

Yes. Amen. Being Superman, http://j.mp/1OhrH2V « GeriPal

Dying With a Disability, http://j.mp/1bgs8IR « Grief Digest Magazine

Loss of a Dream: When A Baby Isn't Perfect

[Reviewed and updated September 14, 2026]

Hope is not a dream but a way of making dreams become reality. ~ James Womack

A reader writes: Apparently there is a syndrome in which a year or two after a parent learns that their baby/child has a severe disability, that parent, often the mother, has a sort of crisis and behaves out of character. This has recently happened to my wife. Over a year ago, our daughter (then 8 months) was diagnosed as being 98% deaf. Can you help identify the syndrome's name, if indeed it has one? 

Pet Loss: Why Does It Hurt So Much?

[Reviewed and updated November 17, 2024]

It is a fearful thing to love what death can touch.  ~ Anonymous

People I've encountered in my practice as a grief counselor are often shocked to discover how devastated they feel when their pets die. Statements such as “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I didn’t feel this bad when my grandmother (acquaintance, friend, relative) died” are common. And so the question arises, Why do so many of us feel the loss of a companion animal so intensely—and is it normal to feel this way?

Understanding and Managing Grief, May 27-June 2, 2012

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

• Best friend’s death leads 10-year-old to write touching essay, http://bit.ly/KlhwtP via @_lizzy_
  
  
• Children, Grief and Loss, http://bit.ly/e9mIfK by @DownSynAdvocacy
  
  
• Grief and Children with Special Needs, http://bit.ly/sZtiaj by@DownSynAdvocacy
  
  
• Excellent! Helping Kids Cope with the Suicide of a Parent, http://bit.ly/NlVu7O by @Kidlutions
  
  
• You are cordially invited to follow Grief Healing's Grief Board on Pinterest ~ lots of useful information! http://j.mp/JSaje4

Understanding and Managing Grief, March 25 - March 31, 2012

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

• What women should know about male grief, http://shar.es/pFKhT « The Grief Toolbox
  
  
• Women turn to social media for support after miscarriage, http://ow.ly/9XNuy from @PureEssenceLabs via @USATODAY
  
  
• Great article: 'Common Myths and Misconceptions about Grief,' http://bit.ly/xbyEIe  from @GriefHealing via @tweet_ACGB
  
  
• How to help a child recover from a traumatic death, http://goo.gl/oT43W via @BDeskey
  
  
• Loss, grief and persons with developmental disabilities, http://j.mp/GZk2m2 by @HFAHospice

Understanding and Managing Grief, March 4 - March 10, 2012

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

• Give Us This Day Our Daily Grief, http://j.mp/yDzx6C  « Psychology Today by @CherylEckl
  
  
• Alone with Grief, http://j.mp/AmtwdG « Grief Reflection
  
  
• "We should not, ethically or morally, medicalize grief," http://bit.ly/wNGRbM by @dr_cacciatore @MISS_Foundation
  
  
• Steps: Coping with Loss of a Limb, http://j.mp/yYnYth in Grief Digest
  
  
• The Mystery of Letting Go, http://j.mp/z20wNV by @CherylEckl

Caregiving and Hospice, February 19 - February 25, 2012

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

• A Daughter’s Love, a Mother’s Last Breath, http://NYTimes.com
  
  
• What top authors say about caregiving from tips to policy demands, http://aarp.us/yr0usf via @AARPOR
  
  
• Tips on caregiving from caregivers, http://ow.ly/9egwG via @mjcare
  
  
• Lovely! "You're Still You" by Connie Foster, http://bit.ly/y5UUAB via @KoryWells
  
  
• How to talk to one who is terminally ill, http://ow.ly/9ftVG via @SeasonsHospice

Caregiving and Hospice, January 8 - January 14, 2012

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

• Saying no to your oncologist is sometimes the right thing to do, http://bit.ly/rEBuYY RT @AlithiaCarol
  
  
• On what is really important in life, http://awe.sm/5dR2O by@LiaLondon1RT via @ShelleyWebbRN
  
  
• Helping employees with caregiving, http://bit.ly/AysrIm
  
  
• Some companies are doing it right! via @ShelleyWebbRN
  
  
• Preparing Your Home For Alzheimers Caregiving, http://bit.ly/AFaiVD via @ClickForFitness

Caregiving and Hospice, December 18 - 23, 2011

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

• Nice video! Holiday tips on caregiving, http://aarp.us/rWShQp by@ColoradoAARP via @denverhospice
  
  
• Dealing with family and friends regarding your special needs child, http://bit.ly/vNlRbm via @humagaia
  
  
• How to manage caregiving with an aging loved one, http://ow.ly/87Tph from @ctffox via @villagememorial
  
  
• Forging Adult Children-Aging Parent Connections before the Challenging Years, http://tinyurl.com/88othtl by @AsOurParentsAge
  
  
• A Christmas letter to touch your heart, http://bit.ly/vDKETi via @benjaminmast1

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

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

• Infant Loss: Healing Through the Anniversaries, http://bit.ly/rIn8zK by @KristineBrite

• Fear of Loss from Grieving Dads Project, http://j.mp/tGrC87 

• Tips for riding waves of grief when parenting a child with special needs this Christmas, http://bit.ly/sOAutC by @jolenephilo

• Ashley Davis Bush: 6 Ways to Get a Handle on Holiday Stress, http://j.mp/vnexPX

• December Newsletter, http://j.mp/sq33v9  from @OpenToHope

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

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

• Different roads: How others' grief helps us cope with our own, http://bit.ly/uaBOsl

• Passage quilting: helping people through grief, http://bit.ly/vxlcxK

• HPNA's Position Statement: Role of the Nurse When Hastened Death Is Requested, http://bit.ly/s6Eq9x by @HPNAinfo

• Photos from NHPCO's 2011 Creative Arts Contest portray hospice, http://on.fb.me/tVtjKa via @NHPCO_news

• The Empty Chair at the Holiday Table, http://bit.ly/u13nc6 

Caregiving and Hospice, May 15 - May 21

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

• Video: enhancing care to Veterans at end of life, http://ow.ly/4YCDV via @NHPCO_news @DeathwDignity @HospiceGSO

• Fall Prevention: Excellent tips list with pictures of each, http://ow.ly/4ZN7q via @CaregiverTweets

• Lighten up: "Dying for a Laugh" video, http://bit.ly/mTQwbz @deathwdignity via @StoryForHealing

• Finding your inner strength while caregiving, http://bit.ly/il5IIm via @Spector_Health

• Dispel the Myth: Awareness of Terminal Cancer Doesn’t Impact Survival, http://bit.ly/lwaKOe via @hospicepharmacy

Caregiving and Hospice, January 23 - January 29

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

• More People Choosing Hospice, http://bit.ly/ehY0HX in @USNews

• Help! My Hospice Nurse Can't Get Here! http://bit.ly/dSBzbA by @angelamorrow

• New Yorker essay on vital strategy to control health care costs, http://nyr.kr/eZmhHS by @Atul_Gawande

• Who Can You (and Your Patients) Trust for Online Health Information? http://bit.ly/fT18Za via @ShellyWebbRN

• Care recipient doesn't want to part with stuff? May be time to part with yours, http://bit.ly/e44lsp by @caregiverblog

• Caregiving cabin fever? Respite care not possible? Consider virtual escape, http://bit.ly/ibAZL9 by @caregiverblog

• What people living with disability can teach us, http://pewrsr.ch/gHkQQ6 by @SusannahFox via @stressresources @pamressler

• Never too early to talk about tough end-of-life decisions, http://bit.ly/hm2cYi via @hospicepharmacy

• Wonderful! Importance of Pets for Older Adults, http://tinyurl.com/yd6ldrs via @ShelleyWebbRN @ElderOptionsTX

• Extensive list of helpful Care Giving resources, http://bit.ly/2khU0v

• Physician-author launches site to promote hospice care with video support for caregiving, http://bit.ly/fALYYl

• PetsforPatriots launches in AZ with new shelter partner @azhumane, http://ht.ly/3Kx5D  via @PetsforPatriots

• Importance of discussions between physicians and patients emphasized in ASCO's new policy statement, http://bit.ly/gMjUiL via @NHPCO_news

• On Navajo Reservation, Poem Helps Broach Topic of End-of-Life Care, http://nyti.ms/fsS8Nn via @brimcmike

• Information to Help Make Sound Medical Decisions, http://bit.ly/eY1sbI @FIMDM via @Pallimed

• Caregiving for an ill spouse, http://bit.ly/ew7W1z by @myOH_AgingWell

• What?? Man prohibited from using his "go anywhere" wheelchair, http://goo.gl/GGleA via @EmpowerAbility

Caregiving and Hospice, January 16 - January 22

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

• Please join me in welcoming Hospice of the Valley to Facebook! http://on.fb.me/eUp7e7 

• Tips for managing medical issues in caregiving | Caregiver's Corner, http://bit.ly/geYCEi

• Looking for Care Giving Resources? Start here, http://bit.ly/2khU0v

• Visit myOptumHealth's Senior hub for articles on health, caregiving, retirement, more, http://bit.ly/fmvtQ0 via @myOH_AgingWell

• Stopping treatment gives 41-yr-old patient a sense of peace, http://bit.ly/eoUxIb via @hospice_mktg