Understanding and Managing Grief, October 1 - October 31, 2025

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

Grief is a universal experience that touches everyone—from kids to adults. And for fourth grade teacher Ryan Brazil, she used her own recent loss to help educate and open up to her students about grief. She explains what grief is to her students using a vase. Fourth Grade Teacher Explains Grief to Her Students « Upworthy

If ever there is a time when you’re entitled to ignore the rules of etiquette, or a time when immediate thanks is neither expected nor required, it is when you are in mourning.It is perfectly acceptable to express your gratitude for gifts of flowers, donations and other acts of kindness later, when other affairs are in order and when you may feel more up to the task. It is also appropriate to delegate this task to those family members and friends who are willing and able to do it on your behalf. In Grief: On Writing Sympathy Thank-You Notes « Grief Healing

Understanding and Managing Grief, March 2 - March 22, 2025

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

Grief can hit us in powerful and unanticipated ways. You might expect to grieve a person, a pet or even a former version of yourself – but many people are surprised by the depth of sad yearning they can feel after selling the childhood home. In fact, it is normal to grieve a place. And this grief can be especially profound if it coincides with a parent dying or moving into residential aged care, leading to the sale of their house. Why do I grieve my childhood home so much now we’ve sold it? And what can I do about it? « The Conversation

Understanding and Managing Grief, May 26 - June 1, 2024

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

The disorienting nature of grief can create a sense of duality in our reality. Adapting to a new life without our loved one isn't easy, but it is possible. Many grievers report feeling as though they are in a parallel life with their loved one just out of reach. Why Your Old Life Can Feel Just Out of Reach « Psychology Today

Understanding and Managing Grief, March 24 - March 30, 2024

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

Meghan Riordan Jarvis, a trauma-informed grief expert who specializes in how grief affects the body, told me that because the death of a loved one is a completely novel experience, it is "very energetically expensive." She confirmed that grief can impair our balance as well as memory and our ability to do multistep functions. Can grief make us accident-prone? « KLCC

Understanding and Managing Grief, March 3 - March 9, 2024

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

Asking yourself about the grief process and overdoing this work is a great insight that is always good to examine. I hadn’t thought of the possibility of working so hard at grief that it could be a distraction from stepping into life, but it makes great sense and is a profound insight. The importance of taking time for 'recess' in the grief process « Taos News

Pet Loss: Child Seeks Ways to Cope

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.  ~ Winnie the Pooh

A reader writes: Today my cat Mischief died! She was the best cat in the world! She died with my parents at our house. I am VERY heart-broken! Besides my dogs she was the only friend that would NEVER get mad at me!!! I mean this is a lot for me to go through at the small age of 10! Do you know of any ways for me to cope but never forget the good times we had?

Understanding and Managing Grief & Pet Loss, January 23 - January 29, 2022

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

We call them unspeakable losses because we do not have the vocabulary to speak about them. My partner died. Then my brother. Here’s what not to say to someone who is grieving « The Guardian

Understanding and Managing Grief, May 9 - May 15, 2021

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

My friend died when we were in ninth grade. He had cancer. He was sick over a year and I knew he probably wouldn’t make it, but his death hit me hard. It's important to understand grief is part of loss « Observer-Reporter

Understanding and Managing Grief, December 27 - January 2, 2021

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

In A Monster Calls, 13-year-old Conor dreams about a monster, but the words he's afraid to say about his dying mother are much scarier. Book Review by Cara Olexa « Seven Ponds 

The lingering pandemic has amplified feelings of isolation, depression and anxiety for countless Pennsylvanians, particularly as family-oriented holidays approach. Coping with Loneliness, Grief During a Holiday Pandemic « Daily American

Caregiving, Hospice & Grief, December 13 - December 19, 2020

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

In this time of Santa we hear the saying “naughty and nice”. Here are four “naughties” that can be turned into “nice”, enhanced experiences common to end of life. Four "Naughties" for End of Life « BK Books 

With employees emotionally drained and residents suffering from loss, many nursing homes and assisted living centers are working with chaplains, social workers and mental health professionals to help residents and staff, and bringing in hospice providers to offer grief counseling, among other strategies. Prayers and Grief Counseling After COVID: Trying to Aid Healing in Long-Term Care « Kaiser Health News

Understanding and Managing Grief, December 6 - December 12, 2020

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

There is a misconception that grief is just sadness (maybe with some anger thrown in). The reality? Grief feels like so many things. Grief feelings can change from day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute. And they are ALL NORMAL. What Does Grief Feel Like? « What's Your Grief? 

It is only natural that you want to protect your children from being upset at all costs, but it is not necessarily a bad thing that they are introduced to the concept of loss at a relatively early age. After all, death is – sadly – the one inevitability of life, and we all have to come to terms with it at some point. Should you take children to a funeral? « AK Lander

Understanding and Managing Grief, September 13 - September 19, 2020

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

Learn about mourning rituals that validate loss during social isolation in our interview with death doula and activist Michelle Acciavatti. When Funerals Move Online, How Can We Create Mourning Rituals That Truly Validate Loss? « Seven Ponds Blog

Understanding and Managing Grief, May 24 - May 30, 2020

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

Thanks for the kind review! "This reputable blog provides professional insight into the latest news on grief with a focus on the needs of professional and family caregivers. Grief Healing Blog’s professional insight is given by author and grief counselor Marty Tousley RN, MS, FT. She regularly features her responses to readers’ questions about grief in her blog posts." Blog Profiles: Grief Support Blogs « Beyond Bylines

Caregiving & Grief, May 3 - May 9, 2020

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

Optimal strategies for helping people develop new rituals to remember those who die during the COVID-19 era: Death, Grief and Funerals in the COVID Age « COVID White Paper

In the midst of a global pandemic, this day might actually feel a bit more aligned with what I want it to be. A Widowed Mother's Day à la COVID-19 « Modern Loss

Disenfranchised Grief: Coronavirus Took My Partner

[Reviewed and updated May 19, 2020]

My grief lies all within, and these external manners of lament are merely shadows to the unseen grief that swells with silence in the tortured soul.   ~ William Shakespeare

A reader writes: You have so many articles on grief but I was unable to find an article that can help me. I’ve recently lost my partner of 4 years who passed a week ago. We were not married and I lived with him and was his primary caregiver. During his last month of life we were apart due to Covid19 and I didn’t get to see him. He was ill but death was not imminent so this has come as quite a shock.

Understanding & Managing Grief, April 19 - April 25, 2020

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

Honored that Grief Healing is named Best Monitored Discussion Group: "They report that their discussion groups are closely monitored and moderated by the owner to ensure quality, safety, and security." The 7 Best Online Grief Support Groups of 2020 « VeryWellMind

The world is grieving an astonishing amount of loss, and most of us are doing it alone. Losing Touch - Struggling with Grief in the Era of Social Distancing « SevenPonds Blog

Caregiving, Hospice & Grief, April 12 - April 18, 2020

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

There is a lot of loss involved in what we're living right now. How do we cope? Find out in this video: Grieving the Loss of Daily Life Routine and Milestones During the Pandemic « Refuge In Grief

It’s a staggering thought, but right this moment, there are 5.8 million Americans living with dementia . . . There is help — resources and education that are breaking down the stigma surrounding dementia. Caregivers can live well with dementia, too! « Your Valley

Caregiving, Grief & Pet Loss, March 22 - March 28, 2020

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

Whether this virus took the life a friend or family member, took away your wedding, your support system, your job, your long-anticipated vacation, your liberty, or your sense of security, your losses are valid and deserving of your grief. So, how do we respond? What can we do? Global Grief of COVID-19, https://j.mp/2UN3qse « Grief Compass

The coronavirus pandemic highlights how much we need to have conversations about end-of-life care: It’s Time to Talk About Death, https://j.mp/39sMDQy « The New York Times

Understanding and Managing Grief, May 26 - June 1, 2019

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

How Do you Move Forward After Causing Accidental Death Or Injury (CADI)? http://j.mp/2KlfOMr « Seven Ponds Blog

Grief Looks a Lot Like 'Crazy' http://j.mp/2KcKpvS « Modern Loss

Review: Dead to Me Is a Quietly Radical Depiction of Grief’s Emotional Haze, http://j.mp/2Iab7mh « Slant Magazine

Understanding and Managing Grief, April 21 - April 27, 2019

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

Out of Grief Comes Faith, http://j.mp/2VnpsEs « The Grief Dialogues

Grief After Accidents, Suicide, and Other Sudden Losses, http://j.mp/2VuxStu « Crossroads

Why losing a dog can be harder than losing a relative or friend, http://j.mp/2KYWWEX « AfterTalk