Voices of Experience: A Reflection on Grief and Mourning

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Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.  ~ Henry Van Dyke

As Senior Director of the Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network, Rabbi Joseph H. Krakoff has worked for many years with adults and children wrestling with death, grief and remembrance. While in Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, he developed a thought-provoking text to share with families, guiding them through honest conversations about the legacy and values that remain even as someone dearly loved has died.

Caregiving and Hospice, August 20 - August 26, 2017

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

How Do We Improve Communication About Palliative Care? http://j.mp/2wdiZNj « SevenPonds Blog

10 Sanity-Saving Long Distance Caregiving Tips, http://j.mp/2wv3vqp « Caring.com

Active vs. Passive: a Key Difference between Mindfulness and Guided Imagery, http://j.mp/2w8HmLU « Health Journeys

Understanding and Managing Grief, August 20 - August 26, 2017

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

“Closure” by Kelly Farley, http://j.mp/2wxsWb5 « Grieving Dads

Grief Healing Discussion Groups is part of Option B's Group Directory and follows its community guidelines, http://j.mp/2w8lNLF « Option B

The Hollow Days, http://j.mp/2wrrmaw «Widower's Grief

Coping with Pet Loss, August 20 - August 26, 2017

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

Veterinary social work opens outlet for grief, stress of pet loss, http://j.mp/2wrAWdw  « Business Mirror 

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.

In Grief: When Offers to Help Are Rejected

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[Reviewed and updated  March 3, 2024]

There is but one freedom. To put oneself right with death. After that, everything is possible. I cannot force you to believe in God. Believing in God amounts to coming to terms with death. When you have accepted death, the problem of God will be solved—and not the reverse.  ~ Albert Camus

A reader writes: My very wonderful aunt who has done much to nurture me as I was growing up, has suffered a huge loss in her life. Her husband of 49 years died three months ago from complications from heart disease. My husband is a minister, I have read a lot about grieving and the different stages of grieving, I have suffered the loss of my father 9 years ago from a long illness, but I have not been prepared for the devastating grief and crying that my aunt is experiencing. I feel helpless to help her.

Caregiving and Hospice, August 13 - August 19, 2017

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

Nurses share a side to their profession that most people don't see, http://j.mp/2vP3qeC « Business Insider

12 tips for giving patients bad news, http://j.mp/2vOUnKG « Kevin MD

End-of-life advice: More than 500,000 chat on Medicare’s dime, http://j.mp/2vCf8Jd « USA Today

Understanding and Managing Grief, August 13 - August 19, 2017

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

The Greatest Fears of Grief, http://j.mp/2vMDdNF « GriefMinisterdotcom

When the 'U' Word Is Missing, Grievers Suffer, http://j.mp/2w5TwHR « Stunned By Grief

Do You Really Never Get Over Losing A Child? http://j.mp/2vGUS9y « Grieve Well

Coping with Pet Loss, August 13 - August 19, 2017

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

Pet Hospice: Why You Should Consider It, http://j.mp/2vPpN3s  « Pet MD

Children and Pet Loss: Following Their Lead, http://j.mp/2vV8gtj « 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.

Children and Pet Loss: Following Their Lead

[Reviewed and updated March 19, 2020]

The moment I decided to follow instead of lead, I discovered the joys of becoming a part of a small child's world.  ~ Janet Gonzalez-Mena

A reader writes: I wrote to you earlier about the death of our dog -- our wonderful and loving companion of 15 years -- as we needed some poetry and appropriate messages to read at the Memorial Service we were planning when we buried her remains in our yard. You were kind enough to refer us to your Comfort for Grieving Animal Lovers page, and I thank you so much for your words of comfort. I also took the time to read the articles you suggested, which soothed my sad and heavy heart.

I wrote to you again when I needed to tell my 5-year-old granddaughter what happened to Samantha. She knew our dog was old and tired, but she wasn't around when Samantha was euthanized.

Grief Healing Notified of HONcode Certification!

Certificate of Compliance

Updated September 22, 2020

I am pleased to report that both the Grief Healing Blog and the Grief Healing Discussion Groups Web sites continue to be fully compliant with Health on the Net Foundation’s HONcode. We've recently been notified that both sites are HONcode-certified, which entitles us to display the HONcode seal on the sites’ home pages for the following year.

Health On the Net (HON) was founded to encourage the dissemination of quality health information for patients and professionals, and to facilitate access to the latest and most relevant medical data through the use of the Internet. The Health On the Net (HON) Foundation is a non-governmental organization, internationally known for its pioneering work in the field of health information ethics, notably for the establishment of its code of ethical conduct, the HONcode—the oldest and most trusted code for medical and health-related information available on the Internet.

Caregiving and Hospice, August 6 - August 12, 2017

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

Thinking About Dying, Even When The Doctor Has No Time For It, http://j.mp/2vy0hQi « WBUR CommonHealth

How the show 13 Reasons Why can help you in the exam room, http://j.mp/2vMmv3h « Kevin MD

Chemo side effects can destroy quality of life, http://j.mp/2vMmKM1 « Daily Mail Online

Understanding and Managing Grief, August 6 - August 12, 2017

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

A letter to … the kind stranger who shared her grief with me, http://j.mp/2vPqbSb «The Guardian

How to talk about grief in the workplace, according to a therapist, http://j.mp/2vLW3a3 « Ladders

Why Grief Is A Series of Contractions and Expansions, http://j.mp/2usodTo  « Tricycle

Coping with Pet Loss, August 6 - August 12, 2017

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

The joy, the grief, the pain: What I now understand about losing a pet, http://j.mp/2vMtbP7 « Petoskey News

How a Pet Hospice Vet Can Help Your Senior Dog, http://bit.ly/2otGHR9 « Dogster

Death of a household pet signals the end of an era, http://j.mp/2vuzjuY « Stuff

Voices of Experience: Why Self-Pity May Be Unjustified--And Unhelpful

Pure misery is a luxury one never learns to enjoy. ~ Rita Dove

Mark Henricks is a freelance journalist and musician and father of three children, including Brady Nathaniel Henricks, who died October 2, 2016 of suicide at age 16. Since losing his youngest child and only son, Mark has studied the grief research literature, searching for evidence-based bereavement coping strategies. In his effort to share with others what he has learned, he writes about these and related topics on his blog Grieve Well. The following post originally appeared there and is reprinted here with his permission.

Caregiving and Hospice, July 30 - August 5, 2017

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

Fearing Hospice, http://j.mp/2uSxvt1 « Hospice Times

Medical Ethics: In The Charlie Gard Case, Listen To The Nurses, http://j.mp/2uQCJFT « CommonHealth

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, July 30 - August 5, 2017

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

'Zero Suicide': A Bold Mental-Health Initiative,  http://j.mp/2v5Yphg « The Atlantic

In Grief: When A Loved One Shares Thoughts of Suicide, http://j.mp/2vaZuHj « Grief Healing

What To Do If You Don't Know What To Do After Loss, http://j.mp/2uOovVL « The Grief Toolbox

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.