Coping with Pet Loss, April 10 - April 16

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

• Falling in Love Again after Pet Loss, http://bit.ly/fixet3

• Dedication or denial of reality? Euthanasia or not? A Veterinarian's perspective, http://bit.ly/hbmtts

April 16 Is National Health Care Decisions Day

The National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) Initiative is a collaborative effort of national, state and community organizations committed to ensuring that all adults with decision-making capacity in the United States have the information and opportunity to communicate and document their healthcare decisions.

To highlight the importance of advance healthcare decision-making, April 16 has been designated as National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD).

Celebrating National Volunteer Week, April 10 - April 16

In a previous post, Healing through the Gift of Volunteering, I noted that at some point in the course of your own grief journey you may find yourself thinking about becoming a hospice volunteer.  The agency with which I was affiliated for 17 years, Hospice of the Valley in Phoenix, AZ, was founded by volunteers, and to this day, volunteers at Hospice of the Valley are considered vital members of the team, supporting dying patients and their families and offering respite care.  As part of HOV's Bereavement Services, they assist staff members with office tasks, special projects, sending condolence cards and preparing bulk mailings.  Through periodic telephone calls over a 13-month period following the death, volunteers offer compassion, understanding and support, as well as referral to appropriate resources, to bereaved individuals whose family members were Hospice of the Valley patients.

Caregiving and Hospice, April 3 - April 9

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

• Caring for our aging parents http://bit.ly/hb1fPU 

• Plan ahead: Priests scarce for last rites, http://usat.ly/gZo0i3 via @Pallimed 

• Hospice program helps patients go beyond saying goodbye, http://j.mp/fg6qUt @NPR via @renee_berry @doctorgrimes

• 10 Signs a Senior Needs Assistance, http://bit.ly/hPxEw2 by @Caring

• There's a New Man in Mom's Life, http://ow.ly/4veUP by @silverplanet via @CPI_Training

Understanding and Managing Grief, April 3 - April 9

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

• Signs from the other side? Believe | theWiddahood.com http://bit.ly/eoLqD1

• Catherine Tidd on how the Widdahood came to be, http://bit.ly/i6UEmF 

• Heartwarming! Ladybug delivers after death communication, http://bit.ly/eFVxVv by @SidKorpi

• Men and grief: Real tough guys are those who can do the work, http://bit.ly/fZTe55 by @rickbelden

• Like Love, Grief Belongs to Poets and Mystics, http://bit.ly/g4zZ7T by @survivegrief

Coping with Pet Loss, April 3 - April 9

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

• When pets outlive owners, 'retirement homes' offer refuge, http://bit.ly/gS5bIG

• Tears of men from a veterinarian's perspective, http://goo.gl/GdvGD by @DrMartyBecker

• Using Photography and Creativity to Ease Grief, http://bit.ly/fOHY8f by @sandyrakowitz via @NEPetHospice

• Elegant elegies: Grieving pet owners find solace in online tributes, http://bit.ly/gC6lFH

Hospice and Caregiving, March 27 - April 2

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

• Popular driver network offers freedom, independence to seniors, http://tinyurl.com/43ly28l via @ShelleyWebbRN

• Taking Care of Yourself So You Can Take Better Care of Others, http://www.caregiver.va.gov/Tips.asp via @phatkathy

• Use Pets As Caregiving Instructors, http://ow.ly/4qcQH via @kstookey @BoomerLivingNow

• Hospice is about living your life the way you want up to the very end, http://bit.ly/fWFStH via @hospicepharmacy

• Family-friendly caregiving articles, helpful videos, updated continuously; subscribe here: http://ow.ly/4qeGk by @CaregiverTweets

Understanding and Managing Grief, March 27 - April 2

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

• It All Comes Down to Love, http://bit.ly/NEPHLove by @NEPetHospice via @georgiaslegacy

• Helpful and Unhelpful Ways to Grieve, http://p.ost.im/p/GysaD by @Tabitha_Jayne

• Grief Observed: Using Movies to Move through Grief, http://ow.ly/4rolr RT @Selfhealingexpr

• In Books on Grief: Academic Researcher and Journalist Are Tilting at Windmills, http://bit.ly/gobyNE by @survivegrief

• "Don’t Cry for Me, Daddy," http://wp.me/pVxlX-72 RT @GrievingDads

Coping with Pet Loss, March 27 - April 2

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

• Petloss: Grief Responses That May Surprise You, http://bit.ly/e8D83E by @themaggiebook

• What is Animal Hospice? See Saying Goodbye To Sparky One Year Later, http://is.gd/5B1J9o by @hospice4animals

• Don't Be Ashamed to Cry: Nice article on pet loss, http://bit.ly/hbha6L via @MarkJAsher

• Beautiful! How childhood pet loss led to a career in grief counseling, http://bit.ly/hZTkEE

• Do Pets Mourn? Of course! http://bit.ly/eIH8r8 by @finch93

• Learning to accept limitations from aging or disease, http://tinyurl.com/48j9rj6 via @PetEndofLife

Hospice Journey: Free Web Sites for Patients and Their Families

[Reviewed and updated September 21, 2020]

I've just discovered yet another online network of support I'm pleased to share with you!  This one is specifically designed for terminally ill people and their families and friends, as they receive hospice care and face end of life choices and transitions.