FEATURED STORIES
Recent Stories
On March 28, 1941, shortly after the gruesome onset of WWII, Virginia Woolf filled the pockets of her overcoat with rocks, treaded into the River Ouse behind the house in East Sussex where she lived with her husband, author and political theorist Leonard Woolf, and drowned herself. She had succumbed to a relapse of the […]
Continue ReadingOne of the saddest family stories of WWII was the death of the five Sullivan brothers from the USS Juneau in 1942. Below is a their story in brief, and President Roosevelt’s letter to their mother. The Sullivans enlisted in the US Navy on January 3, 1942, with the stipulation that they serve together. The […]
Continue ReadingCondolence Letters and Presidents A few weeks ago I published in this column a condolence letter from President Lincoln to a young woman on the occasion of her father’s passing. Readers appreciated it, so I set out to find another with the help of my trusty friend, Google. I settled on something a bit different. […]
Continue ReadingMiscarriage and Grief from The New York Times, by psychologist Jessica Zucker and illustrator by Ryan Alexander-Tanner. Dr. Zucker is a clinical psychologist specializing in women’s reproductive + maternal mental health, with an international public health background. She also has a website selling pregnancy loss cards and more: CLICK HERE
Continue ReadingLincoln on Grief It’s reassuring that some Presidents know exactly what to say. Here is Abraham Lincoln’s touching condolence letter to 22-year-old Fanny McCullough, the daughter of a long-time friend: Dear Fanny, It is with deep grief that I learn of the death of your kind and brave Father; and, especially, that it is affecting […]
Continue ReadingLosing a Loved One to a Rare Disease My daughter died of ectopia cordis. My husband and I learned about this birth defect around eighteen weeks into the pregnancy, and we also learned that it meant our daughter’s heart was growing outside her chest. Do you know how rare ectopia cordis is? An estimated 1 […]
Continue ReadingThe Transformative Power of Grief Alana Sheeren believes in love, beauty and the transformative power of grief. After the stillbirth of her son she began writing about her personal journey into grief and whole-self healing. A Reiki Master with a MA degree in clinical and community psychology and a BFA in theater, Alana partners with […]
Continue ReadingWARNING. THIS POST CONTAINS SOME HARSH LANGUAGE THAT SOME OF YOU WILL FIND OBJECTIONABLE. WE APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE IF YOU CHOSE TO READ IT AND ARE OFFENDED. Comedian and actor Patton Oswalt’s wife, writer Michelle McNamara, died last year one week after her 46th birthday from a combination of prescription medications and an undiagnosed heart […]
Continue ReadingI stumbled upon this quote in a novel by one of my favorite authors, Jeffery Deaver, best known for his Lincoln Rhyme series, especially The Bone Collector which was made into a movie starring Denzel Washington. It is a dialogue about grief between an adolescent girl who has lost her mother tragically in a case […]
Continue ReadingEditor: AfterTalk is about bereavement and grieving, which usually, but not always, begin with a death. Many of us are at that age where we might experience the death of a loved one, and have to go through all the arrangements required; but if it is our first, it is unlikely to be our last. […]
Continue Reading