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MANAGING YOUR OWN GRIEF DURING THE HOLIDAYS – THIS IS ANOTHER RE-RUN OF AN EARLIER POST IN ANTICIPATION OF THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS My co-Founder Lisa suggested this. So nobody you know took my advice and called to include you in their holiday plans. Sorry that didn’t work out.. And you were too reluctant to reach […]
Continue ReadingThis is a modified rerun of a post I did last December. It’s about the helping the grieving during the holidays. I did several them, and over the next few days will republish them as we approach two holidays, Easter and Passover, that are observed by the entire family, and are therefore especially problematic for […]
Continue ReadingI know I’m more than half right about this, so please bear with me. In mathematics there’s a concept called proportionality. Directly portortional means that if you travel faster, you’ll go farther. Inversely proportional means that the more people you have digging a ditch, the sooner it will be done. Grief is, for most of […]
Continue ReadingIt was cold in the graveyard on January 31st, 2010, and there was a lot of traffic in the hearse, because we were in Long Island. After the funeral, everyone went directly to my Uncle’s house, where a feast of bagels and pickles awaited us. Shiva is the word for the seven-day mourning period that […]
Continue ReadingYesterday would have been Zack’s 40th birthday. He took his own life last year after a twenty year struggle with schizophrenia. I loved Zack, the son of a first cousin who has been like a brother to me. Zack and I first met at his bris, the Jewish circumcision ritual, when he was only a couple […]
Continue ReadingMy first wife died of cancer. From initial diagnosis to death was five years. It wasn’t downhill all the way. After an initial six months of chemotherapy we had a full and healthy four years, toward the end of which we dared to use the word ‘cured.’ Then it came back with a vengeance, and […]
Continue ReadingI was planning to write this a couple of weeks ago; then my mother passed away last week and my viewpoint changed from author to recipient, so I’d like to capture in this essay how notes register with the family members. I published three pieces about my experiences while dealing with my mother’s death from […]
Continue ReadingThe morning after my mother’s death was filled with process and paperwork, made significantly easier than for many thanks to her meticulous planning. When my father was still alive they contracted for a complete burial package including services, coffins, and interment. We allowed one full day after her death for family to travel to Florida. […]
Continue ReadingAfter they took my mother to the funeral home, my brother, his significant other, Susan, and I headed back to the hotel in Delray Beach. It was after ten o’clock and almost everything was closed. We stumbled into Boston’s near the beach and convinced them to serve us. A live blues band made it hard […]
Continue ReadingGrief is not a disorder, a disease or sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve. ~ Earl Grollman, unspokengrief.com A widower loves with the knowledge that love sometimes outlives the relationship. We love at our own risk in […]
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