FEATURED STORIES
Recent Stories
I was sitting in the office of New York City’s preeminent gynecological oncological surgeons when he brought up a quotation that had been mentioned to him, one he shares with both cancer survivors and the survivors of a cancer death: “I guess it comes down to a simple choice–get busy living or get busy dying.” […]
Continue ReadingJoe Biden’s heartfelt speech on grief From the Washington Post, May 2015 Perhaps more than any other American politician, we have a sense of how Joe Biden processes grief. The vice president, who is mourning the loss of his 46-year-old son, Beau, today, has lived through unimaginable tragedy. His first wife and 13-month-old-daughter, Naomi, died in […]
Continue Reading[Carrying On Editor’s Note: I usually prefer longer quotes, poems, etc. for AfterTalk Inspirational Weeklies, but this one resonated for me as something that everyone who has experienced a profound loss would understand.] Albert Camus (1913-1960) was a representative of non-metropolitan French literature. His origin in Algeria and his experiences there in the thirties were […]
Continue ReadingWhat Does a Mother Do for Her Son? by mary gutheil anderson What does a mother do for her son? She helps create him She carries him next to her heart for close to a year She gives birth She sustains his life She feeds him She clothes him She combs his hair She […]
Continue ReadingEvery Day is a Sick Day by Fran Gerstein When your child dies every day is a sick day. An invisible wound resonates from middle of your body, radiating emptiness to your extremities. People around you are unaware of its presence. But you feel it while laughing or despairing. It is part of you now. […]
Continue ReadingFIVE MINUTES TO LIVE is a famous sermon given by Rabbi Kenneth Berger on Yom Kippur day in the fall of 1986. It was inspired by the crash of the Challenger space shuttle on January 28, 1986 and the subsequent revelation that the crew had likely survived the explosion and lived for another five minutes […]
Continue ReadingMy Journey in Loss ODE TO BE…. By Peggy Amler 2017 Before Bereft Bemoan Bewail Beware Bewildered Betwixt and Between Behave Because Bethink Beget Beyond Begin Becalm Behold Belong Become Believe BE
Continue ReadingKatie Couric on Death and Dishonesty KATIE COURIC: In six hours my life went from complete contentment to complete chaos. And that period of hearing, refusing to accept, accepting, you know, preparing, you know the grief started there. Katie Couric has lived in the public eye since 1991, when she began co-hosting the Today Show […]
Continue ReadingMysterious Moments–Narratives and Grief Several years ago, I heard a grief story that, like a song repeating in my mind, refused to leave my thoughts or feelings. It occurred when I was visiting a friend’s elderly mother in her assisted-living apartment. On the wall close to her recliner was a portrait of her adorable eighteen-month-old […]
Continue ReadingFrom This Day Forward: A Widow’s Understanding of Continuing Bonds By Louise McOrmond-Plummer The loss of Ken, my beloved husband of thirty years, to cancer in 2016 was so devastating that I am persuaded that the grief may, in varying degrees, be lifelong. However, the speed with which advice to “Let go and Move on” […]
Continue Reading