Imagine: It’s the first Valentine’s Day after your husband’s death and you begrudgingly trudge into the kitchen for a cup of coffee only to discover inches of water standing (and deepening!) across the floor. Even without caffeine, you kick into high gear and pull out every bath towel available hoping for dry ground that does…
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A few weeks ago, I received a box from my sister Beth who lives in Sarasota in the house my parents built and lived in until the end of their lives. For Dad, that was 23 years ago, and for Mom, 2 ½ years ago. Beth cared for Mom at the end of her life…
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Friday, September 28, 2012, my son Matthew was 22 years old and a senior at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. That afternoon, we were notified that he had died by suicide. My knees buckled and my world collapsed. Despite the flood of friends and family to our house, I didn’t know where…
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Refuge in Grief God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore… –Psalm 46:1-2a The marquee, at the entrance of a Baptist church daycare center where I took my firstborn, featured the above words from Psalm 46. Every single word penetrated my heart, soul, and mind—God/our/refuge/ strength/ present help/trouble/therefore… The marquee…
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Grief- New You, New Friends nger strangers…. More than once or 294 times my colleagues and I have been asked, “How can you do this grief work all the time?” The down-to-earth reply is, “Because we meet the most compassionate, authentic, and spiritual women and men.” The wide-as-the-heavens reply is, “With the gifts God has…
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Stories Bind A Broken Heart “Tears shed in private are the most honest prayers.” Awakened in the August night by my Grandmother Naomi’s weeping, I remembered that she had shared this thought with me years before. The recollection transformed my fear, sense of helplessness, and own sadness into a holy moment. Wrapped between soft sheets…
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