Caregiving and Hospice, June 23 - June 29, 2013

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

When caregiving begins to take a massive toll, http://j.mp/19GA041 « Caregiver Stress

Caring for People Who Are Deaf, http://wp.me/p1bB1v-12w « TheWorkingCaregiver

Managing the highs and lows of caregiving, as reported by Rachel Pomerance, http://ow.ly/mucHi « U.S. News and World Report

It may be difficult to talk about end of life and hospice, but it's worse if you don't, http://j.mp/16FCHh0 « eHospice

Learn more about Dignity Therapy, http://ow.ly/mtuZU « Hospice Buffalo

Understanding and Managing Grief, June 23 - June 29, 2013

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

After Tragedy: 3 Reasons And 21 Ways To Bring Joy Back into Your Life, http://j.mp/19GzjI5 « Tiny Buddha

Finding Balance: A self care quiz for grievers,  http://j.mp/biCTnZ « Hello Grief

Lively discussion dominates Death Cafe, http://j.mp/14CCIRD « Baltimore Sun

Grief Relief! 5 Holistic Alternatives to Therapy, http://j.mp/19Ia9FA « With Sympathy Gifts and Keepsakes

Lovely! Saving Grief Until After Wimbledon, http://j.mp/12vdXU3 « Friend Grief

Infertility: Grieving Children Who Will Never Be

Source

Just as parenting a child in your arms takes a lifetime of adapting to a changing relationship, so too does parenting the memory of the child you hold in your heart. This is a journey that lasts a lifetime. ~ Unknown

A reader writes: I was wondering if you had any resources or could point me to resources in relation to grieving a child I never had? I have recently had a hysterectomy due to cancer and now cannot have the children I had already birthed in my heart. I am so overcome with grief and cannot find anyone that can understand my loss, and on my own I do not know how to work through this.

Caregiving and Hospice, June 16 - June 22, 2013

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

Gifts of the Heart: A lovely documentary piece (15 minutes) on the benefits of hospice volunteering http://pinterest.com/pin/3307399699229766/ … « YouTube

A Search for Harmony, http://j.mp/11P9LhV « New York Times

New End-of-Life Measure Quietly Sweeps Nation: States Embrace POLSTs http://bit.ly/15mM96j « Stateline (Daily News Service of The Pew Charitable Trusts)

Amen! Palliative care has become the last bastion of health care sanity, http://j.mp/10AC2yI « Kevin MD

A Palliative Nurse Practitioner's lovely story: Dying a Hero's Death, http://j.mp/1awOe5r « Kevin MD

Understanding and Managing Grief, June 16 - June 22, 2013

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

Heartrending: Tony Soprano Died, and You Did Too, http://j.mp/15pYNBJ « Widow's Voice

Touching tribute: The Colbert Report: Remembering Lorna Colbert, http://j.mp/1c4GtSe « Hulu

Moving: They Loved Him Because He Was There, http://j.mp/15nO8Y8 « Maria Shriver

On taking a break from news trauma: Closing My Screen Door, http://j.mp/11pPFPT « Maria Shriver

Wow. What It Feels Like To Be Photographed In A Moment Of Grief, http://n.pr/UtCgB7 « NPR

Coping with Pet Loss, June 16 - June 22, 2013

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

Finding Peace after Pet Loss with Sid Korpi, http://j.mp/16pMLKS « WebTalkRadio.net

Grieving pets sleep in dog’s crate after third dog dies, http://j.mp/11TatuB « NY Daily News

Is the Pain of Losing a Pet Real Grief? http://j.mp/19VslOl « Psychology Today

Why Losing a Pet is So Hard--and How to Get Through It, http://j.mp/19JAENa « Huffington Post Home

Voices of Experience: Learning To Be Happy Again

Margareta Kubitz

After losing her four year old daughter in a drowning accident in 2009, Maria Kubitz was determined to maintain a loving, healthy environment for her three other children and to continually find ways to learn from her pain. In 2012 she created Alive in Memory, a supportive place where families can share precious stories of the loved ones they have lost. She also volunteers at a local chapter of The Compassionate Friends. Here she describes her struggle to allow happiness back into her life once again.

When my daughter died, the pain was so overwhelming, the thought that I could ever feel any ounce of happiness again seemed ridiculous. In those early days of grief, the mere idea of being happy didn’t just feel impossible, it felt wrong.

Caregiving and Hospice, June 9 - June 15, 2013

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

The Presence Care Project: Mindfulness-based dementia care training for caregivers, http://j.mp/11g401l

Presence Care Project: How mindfulness based dementia care helps reduce stress, http://j.mp/11nPZLu « Seven Ponds Blog

A different kind of dementia, http://nbcnews.to/13Jx0fY « NBC News - The Daily Nightly

10 Steps for Communicating with Pts about Serious Illness, http://j.mp/17MeJo4 « Center to Advance Palliative Care

End Of Life Tech Companies Grow With Changes In Death Traditions, http://j.mp/19zsJSt « Huffington Post

Understanding and Managing Grief, June 9 - June 15, 2013

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

Father's Day Without Your Father, http://j.mp/14Dd3tU « Pallimed

“Sometimes we need a life vest; sometimes we can be a life vest for others.” http://ow.ly/lOsfa « Pennie Hunt

Grieving on Father's Day, http://bit.ly/11kcJMk « Laura Kramer Ministries

Why men need compassion to deal with their grief, http://bit.ly/16GTtQW « The Good Life

Excellent! 20 Pounds of Grief, http://j.mp/144C13h « Navigating Grief

Coping with Pet Loss, June 9 - June 15, 2013

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

Some excellent resources about men and grief, http://j.mp/1997iFh « Healing Pet Loss

Heartwarmer! It had to be you, http://j.mp/10c0x4Y « Hospice Matters

Rituals Can Help You Cope with Pet Loss, http://yhoo.it/ZVjCZi « Yahoo! Shine

Tips for Coping with Disbelief and Denial in Grief

Find the latest version of this post here:

In Grief: Coping with Denial and Disbelief

Because it is a gradual process of weaning and disconnection, the shock that is felt after the death of a loved one may continue for weeks, months, or even years, in waves of disbelieving aftershocks. “Forgetting” that your loved one is gone, you may find yourself setting an extra place at the dinner table, expecting your beloved to walk in the door at the usual hour or to be on the other end of the line when the telephone rings. And each time it happens, you’re confronted once again with the brutal reality that your special person is forever gone.

Denial is understood as a defense against that brutal reality. It blunts the impact of the loss, offers you a temporary respite and allows you to process those overwhelming feelings more gradually. On one level you recognize that your loved one has died; on another level you’re unable to grasp all the ramifications of that harsh and unwelcome reality.

Denial is a problem only if it is used deliberately to avoid the reality of death or to escape the emotions resulting from a loss (which can manifest themselves as insomnia, fatigue, anxiety or chronic depression). You may be avoiding reality to one extent or another if you:

Caregiving and Hospice, June 2 - June 8, 2013

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

Cases: What Do I Say To My Kids? http://j.mp/14J79E9 « Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog

8 Great Tips For Long-Distance Caregiving, http://fb.me/1Lk09NFcz « Huffington Post

Important! The Balancing Act: Retirement Savings, College Funding and Caregiving, http://ow.ly/lONha « A Place for Mom

Hospice isn't for "when nothing can be done;" it IS the something that can be done, http://bit.ly/11wKHQB « The Bowie Blade-News

LIVE Without Pain http://j.mp/GGtiJY « Caring Connections - NHPCO

Understanding and Managing Grief, June 2 - June 8, 2013

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

A widow's courageous post: May I be blunt? http://j.mp/17xoOoy « Memoirs from Widow Island

Grief Photography How To: Photographing Symbols, http://j.mp/13qnxvu « What's Your Grief?

Must read! Turning the Key http://j.mp/11oVeuf « Widow's Voice

Important Book Review: “When Someone Dies” by Scott Taylor Smith,  http://j.mp/14FgWLj « SevenPonds Blog

Lovely! Loss of a Loved One: Finding Meaning Through Metaphor, http://bit.ly/WaARQe « Roots of Action

Coping with Pet Loss, June 2 - June 8, 2013

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

Funerals for Pets? http://j.mp/17ikVDU « Grief Healing Blog

Hospice service aids ailing pets, http://j.mp/1aRujvx « Wicked Local Lexington

Funerals for Pets?

Source

[Reviewed and updated September 5, 2021]

A pet is never truly forgotten until it is no longer remembered. ~ Lacie Pettito

In his delightful 1991 book, UH-OH, minister Robert Fulghum describes how he came to officiate at a memorial service for Gyda, a half German shepherd, half Dalmatian dog who lived in his houseboat "neighborhood" and who came to be loved by him and all who knew her. After Gyda dies, he describes the funeral service as a celebration of Gyda's life, during which all of her family and friends gather together on the dock and tell stories that are as much about themselves as they are about the dog. "My seminary training didn't cover how to perform a dog funeral," he observes. "It takes a real dog to teach that. And when the pupil is ready, the teacher appears."

Caregiving and Hospice, May 26 - June 1, 2013

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

On prolonging life in an era of limited resources: Love & Let Die, http://j.mp/11ijQHW « WNYC

Lovely! Amy Goyer's take on the importance of family meals and her 89 yr old Dad saying grace, http://j.mp/11ITaC9 « YouTube

7 Tips to Help Beat Your Aging Parent's Loneliness, http://ow.ly/lzkfy « Forbes

What To Do When Displeased With Our Parent's Care,  http://ow.ly/lzEDh « AgingCare.com

Good tips to avoid family caregiving disputes, http://ow.ly/lxh6q « TimesUnion.com

Understanding and Managing Grief, May 26 - June 1, 2013

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

Excellent read! Understanding Traumatic Grief — Mass Violence, Shattered Lives http://j.mp/10HamGH « Social Work Today

Powerful story of friendship, grief in the wake of suicide, and lessons learned: I Should Have Been Finding Him Reasons To Live, http://j.mp/117r3ql « The Good Men Project

Pick of the Week: The Invisible String teaches ties that bind in grief, http://j.mp/13rCsnN « Advent Funeral

Updated May 31: Tips for Coping with Sleeplessness in Grief, http://j.mp/hkoXnZ « Grief Healing Blog

Grief Is Overflowing Love: A Mourning Son's Story, http://wp.me/p1l0Zh-hw « GriefMinister.com