Voices of Experience: A Promise At Passing

The author at age 2 with her grandmother,
sharing the love of literature 

Author J. Ivanel Johnson shares here the inspiration bestowed upon her by her grandmother through many decades ~ and how a death-bed promise she made to her 30 years ago has finally been kept. She explains how keeping promises made to a passing loved one keeps them close, and may help alleviate any guilt felt at the time of their death.

Caregiving & Understanding and Managing Grief, December 8 - December 14, 2019

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

Grief takes on a life of its own for many people and though it affects thousands on a daily basis, each journey is different. Yet, the one thing all those grieving people have in common is that the journey feels like a walk down a winding path alone. What Grief Truly Is, http://j.mp/2LRUUV9 « Yahoo! Lifestyle

Family caregivers pledge to fulfill their loved ones’ end-of-life wishes. But too often circumstances change, and they must break their word and guard against breaking hearts ― including their own.… The Health Care Promises We Cannot Keep, https://j.mp/35mCG66 « Kaiser Health News

From your description of your grandmother's illness her body had entered the dying process. It was shutting down, unable to combat the disease that she had lived with for so many years. Would She Still Be Alive? https://j.mp/36qR8tK « BK Books

Understanding and Managing Grief, December 20 - December 26, 2015

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

What Grieving Parents Want Others to Know, http://j.mp/1Oj5fR8 « HuffPost (Common Grief)

Grief and Shame: An Unacceptable Combination, http://j.mp/1OGb37O « HuffPost GPS for the Soul

The Promise of Christmas, http://j.mp/1NH3td8 « Grief Healing

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The Promise of Christmas

Source

Ready or not, Christmas will come. And friends, that is more promise than threat.  ~ Peggy Haymes

In her beautiful Christmas message that came via email last week, our friend and colleague Peggy Haymes reminded us that, regardless of the losses we carry or the burdens we bear, the holidays still come, whether we feel ready to deal with them or not.

When we are in the midst of grief, we have hardly any interest in facing these days at all. We feel stressed because there is too much to do, with too little time, not enough money, and hardly enough energy to get out of bed in the morning. Everything seems draped in the darkness of sorrow and loss.

But Peggy gently suggests that a better approach is to focus instead on the real meaning of Christmas.