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Sharing Parents

Savoring The Season

By Blog, Grief, Holidays
By Henderson Lafond And just like that, we are staring down the “most wonderful time of the year”. When you have experienced the loss of a child, the regular days are not the same, much less the holidays. The big difference is in the pressure. All of the sudden, it is expected that we see family and friends. We have to put on a smile, some nice clothes and be filled with holiday cheer. We are supposed to spread love and light and give of ourselves. It’s the time of year we are in touch with people we don’t talk...
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December 9, 2016

Coping With Holidays and Celebrations

By Blog, Grief, Holidays

By Sherokee Ilse Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years – celebrations that bring families together. A time to appreciate friends, God, family and the gifts of life. They also serve as reminders of who will not be with us when our family comes together. Holiday times can be bittersweet for families who have had a loved one die, particularly a child. There are ways for you to gain some control and minimize the difficulty of the often tense, yet special time. Long before the day, make plans, speak up about your needs and desires and follow your heart. In your decision-making…

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December 2, 2016

Remember Your Child During the Holidays

By Blog, Grief, Holidays
By Clara Hinton We generally associate the December holidays with festive decorations, gift giving, and the laughter of little children. For a parent who has lost a young child, just the word holiday can cause great emotional pain. It is difficult to walk into a store and be bombarded with all of the reminders of children. The toys, holiday clothes, colorful children’s gift wrap, and the holiday music being sung by young children all bring on waves of grief that are difficult to bear. Often parents who have lost a young child find themselves falling into a depression around holiday...
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December 2, 2016

Creative Expression Healing Through the Arts

By Art, Blog, Grief

Oscar Wilde once said, “It is through art and through art only that we can realize our perfection; through art and art only that we can shield ourselves from the sordid perils of actual existence.” I would go one step further and say that not only does art protect us from the jeopardies of the world, it teaches us, strengthens us, and allows us to participate in all the wonderful and excruciating emotions of our actual existence. We have seen this throughout civilization; artwork of all kinds, paintings, sculptures, poems, plays, etc., through the generations, depicting our deepest depths of…

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December 1, 2016

Befriend Courage

By Blog, Grief

By Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. What is courage? When you think of courage, images of bravery might come to mind—knights on horseback charging the line, firefighters risking their lives to rescue a family from a burning building, or hikers summiting Mount Everest. This is bravery, not courage. Bravery is loud and boisterous. Courage is soft and quiet. Without the steady, quiet resolve and unfailing commitment of courage, bravery would never happen. Courage is what fuels bravery. It is the bridge between fear and action. It is a still, quiet voice encouraging you to go on. Bravery is daring and doing,…

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December 1, 2016

Mustering the Courage to Mourn

By Blog, Grief

“Whatever you do, you need courage.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson Loss brings uninvited pain into our lives. In opening to the presence of the pain of your loss, in acknowledging the inevitability of the pain, in being willing to gently embrace the pain, you demonstrate the courage to honor the pain. Honoring means “recognizing the value of” and “respecting.” It is not instinctive to see grief and the need to openly mourn as something to honor, yet the capacity to love requires the necessity to mourn. To honor your grief is not self-destructive or harmful, it is courageous and life-giving….

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December 1, 2016

Take Grief’s Hand

By Blog, Grief

by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. Someone you have given love to and received love from has died. You are grieving. You are “bereaved” which literally means you have been “torn apart” and have “special needs.” You are beginning, or are in the midst of, a journey that is painful, often lonely and naturally frightening. Among your most special needs right now is to have the courage to grieve and mourn in a culture that doesn’t always invite you to feel safe to do so. That said, I have written this article to help you draw forth your courage—the courage that…

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December 1, 2016

Movie Review: Return to Zero

By Blog, Grief, Resource

Return to Zero Synopsis: RETURN TO ZERO is based on the true story of a successful couple, Maggie (MINNIE DRIVER) and Aaron (PAUL ADELSTEIN) who are preparing for the arrival of their first child. Just weeks before their due date they are devastated to discover that their baby son has died in the womb and will be stillborn. Maggie and Aaron attempt to go on with their lives but cannot escape their postpartum grief. Their lives and relationship have been forever altered by this loss. And no one seems to understand the hell they are going through. Aaron’s dad, Robert…

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April 23, 2015

I Remember You

By Art, Blog, Grief

The world may never notice If a rosebud doesn’t bloom: Or even pause to wonder if the petals fall too soon. But every life that ever forms, Or ever comes to be Touches the World in some small way For all eternity. The little ones we longed for Were swiftly here and gone. But the love that was then planted Is a light that still shines on. And though our arms are empty, Our hearts know what to do Every beating of my heart says “I Remember You” Author unknown

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January 15, 2015
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