Voices of Experience: Bittersweet

Memories, even bittersweet ones, are better than nothing.  ~ Jennifer Armentrout

Jan Warner believes that honoring grief is honoring love. She says she wants her husband's life to matter more than his death, but she also acknowledges that she will always grieve his loss. After nine years of learning to live without him, she still has days when everything falls apart. Nevertheless, she has a letter from her husband telling her how he watches her fall down and then get back up again: "He writes that he loves me and is proud of me for this. I hope I am still making him proud." Here Jan shares some of where she's been in her own grief journey, and what she's discovered along the way:

Caregiving and Hospice, March 23 - March 29, 2014

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

Language Matters: Journalism's Role In End Of Life Care, http://j.mp/QrfQ6z « Life Matters Media

Caregiving After A Stroke: Suggested Resources, http://j.mp/18q79iU « Grief Healing Blog

At the tipping point: Caregiving Is A Corporate Issue, http://j.mp/1dBBi31 « Forbes

A Thanksgiving Day Message

Source

It is in giving that I connect with others, with the world and with the divine.  ~ Isabel Allende

As we pause to count our blessings in this season of gifting and giving thanks, I share with you a personal and powerful message about the meaning of love and the purpose of giving. Originally featured on NPR’s “This I Believe” series, this insightful piece was written by novelist Isabel Allende following the death of her adult daughter in 1992. While Paula languished in a coma for a year, her mother served as her primary caregiver, and here Allende shares the important life lessons she learned from that experience.

Understanding and Managing Grief, May 15 - May 21

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

• How Does God View Our Grief? http://goo.gl/fb/p3QrR via @sadierosefndtn

• Identifying bereaved subjects at risk of complicated grief, http://bit.ly/jgfcM6 RT @suzanakm

• Death of a close friend is a different grief, http://bit.ly/lHlauv by @pkassner via @horizonHCH

• The Road to Significance is Service, http://bit.ly/lB68tO via @ScottIrwinMD

• Four Workouts to Let Go of Emotional Pain, http://fb.me/x1euHDpH by @BobLivingstone

Hospice and Caregiving, March 20 - March 26

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

• Messages to Loved Ones offers Hospice, Alzheimer's, others a way to preserve, share, tell their stories, http://bit.ly/gNIICk by @EarlC

• Maintaining sexual intimacy at the end of life, http://bit.ly/hQFrcf by @angelamorrow

• Advice on talking about end-of-life care, http://ow.ly/1bVHeF via @RecordEagle

• Free tip sheet to support Alzheimers caregivers, http://bit.ly/gNR75C by @HlthAdvocate via @HealthProponent

• Informative! Caregiving as seen from two sides, http://bit.ly/hcN525 via @seniorhomes