Grief Healing: Where Did You Get That Name?

[Reviewed and updated November 21, 2024]

Heal-ing: (n) - the process of making or becoming sound or healthy again; (adj) - tending to heal; therapeutic. Example: "a healing experience." Synonyms: alleviate, ease, assuage, palliate, relieve, help, lessen, mitigate, attenuate, allay. ~ Marion Institute

When I was deciding many years ago what name to give my collection of Grief Healing websites, I struggled with whether to use the word “healing” in my title, because I knew that the notion of healing from grief can seem offensive to some. After all, those of us who are anticipating or coping with the loss of a loved one know full well that grief is not an illness to be cured or a physical injury from which we will recover.

Caregiving and Hospice, September 18 - September 24, 2016

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

Why Bereavement Support is an Essential Component of Hospice and Palliative Care http://j.mp/2csFjqx « Liv On

Can sheer will power keep patients alive in their dying hours? http://bit.ly/2cAUe5m « STAT

RESPECT: An Approach to Death and Dying at End of Life, http://j.mp/2cErgVm « Marin Medicine

Understanding and Managing Grief, September 18 - September 24, 2016

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

Why Bereavement Support is an Essential Component of Hospice and Palliative Care, http://j.mp/2csFjqx « Liv On

The Death You Die When Someone You Love Dies, http://j.mp/2dnOYkx « John Pavlovitz

64 Tips for Grieving through The Winter Blues, http://j.mp/2cII0VT « What's Your Grief?

In Grief: College Student Considers Dropping Out of School

Find an updated version of this post here: 

Mother Loss: College Student Feels Like Quitting

A reader writes: In my 20 years of living there was not a single day that I had spent without my mom. She was my world and I was hers. She was more like a best friend to me. She played video games with me, we went to trips together, she cooked food for me. It was like she was for me and I was for her. And then, within a matter of 3 days, I lost her. She was just 42.

Caregiving and Hospice, September 11 - September 17, 2016

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

Gratitude for ‘Extremis,’ Netflix’s new documentary about end-of-life care, http://j.mp/2cO3Lam « Zap2It

A Letter to Our Friends and Family, http://j.mp/2cRrMeM « The Unprepared Caregiver

Does the government know what it's doing to physicians? http://j.mp/2cumCG6 « Kevin MD

Coping with Pet Loss, September 11 - September 17, 2016

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

What More Is There Possibly to Ask? http://j.mp/2cJMwXK « The Huffington Post

What this family physician learned from his dog, http://j.mp/2d16B9B « Kevin MD

Pet Loss: At My Age, Is It Selfish to Get Another Dog? http://j.mp/2cpa4gz « Grief Healing

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below.

If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Pet Loss: At My Age, Is It Selfish to Get Another Dog?

Source

[Reviewed and updated December 4, 2022]

Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.  ~ Leroy "Satchel" Paige

A reader writes: My husband and I are both 74 and we have no children. So our pets become surrogate kids. My husband loved our dog but he seems to cope much better with her loss. He has health problems so much of her care fell on me. She was my friend! It has been three weeks now and I still feel sick when I think of her. I would like to get another dog but I am not sure what would be best. I am fairly active for my age and walked my golden retriever every day. Plus there is a park across from where I live where she was able to run. I am considering a sheltie. I just hope I am not being selfish getting another dog at my age.

Caregiving and Hospice, September 4 - September 10, 2016

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

Interview with Karl Steinberg, MD: What is a Doctor’s Role in Advance Care Planning? http://j.mp/2c1vuow « Seven Ponds Blog

Difficult Conversations: How to Talk About Hospice Care, http://j.mp/2cDJh5B « Hospice of Red River Valley

Bedpans to outcomes: Why can't we quantify nursing care? http://j.mp/2bQs3M6 « Kevin MD

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below.

If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Understanding and Managing Grief, September 4 - September 10, 2016

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

Cleanup in the Produce Aisle, http://j.mp/2cz8T0f « Modern Loss

Dear Ayden: Responding to "How are you?" http://j.mp/2cO5zAi « All The Things

Despair, http://j.mp/2ckoNNE « All The Things

Voices of Experience: The Stethoscope, a Link to Past, Present and Future

Linking objects are literally any type of physical object or an image that connects a mourner in a comforting way with a deceased loved one.  ~ Lou LaGrand

Harriet Hodgson has been an independent health and wellness journalist for more than 37 years. She is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists, Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the MN Coalition for Death Education and Support. She has presented at numerous conferences and has appeared as a guest on dozens of radio and television programs. A prolific author, she has contributed hundreds of articles to online and print publications, and has published 35 books ~ all stemming from her personal experiences with anticipatory grief, traumatic loss, grief recovery, health and wellness, grandparenting and primary caregiving. Learn more about this busy author, caregiving wife and grandmother at her website, HarrietHodgson.com and on her Facebook page.

Our elder daughter, mother of our twin grandchildren, died from the injuries she received in a car crash. This was bad enough, but six months later, the twin’s father died from the injuries he received in another crash.

Caregiving and Hospice, August 28 - September 3, 2016

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

This is what my ideal EHR looks like, http://j.mp/2bPKnWk « Kevin MD

Does 'No Code' Mean No Care? http://bit.ly/2bR4XYS « Barbara Karnes, RN

5 Things Care Givers Want Hospice Workers to Know, http://bit.ly/2c082Wb « Psychology Today

Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below.

If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.

Understanding and Managing Grief, August 28 - September 3, 2016

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

Your Grief is Terrifying to Those Around You, http://j.mp/2bHW7hL « Grief In Common

Powerful piece on child loss: No Longer the Victim: Emerging From Loss, http://j.mp/2bUONLV « Open to Hope

Pets Grieve Too, http://j.mp/2ci4dxG « Journey Care