Shedding shame to survive suicide Harriet Emma Empey Attridge was beautiful, spirit-loving, loyal hard working and courageous. She completed suicide at the age of 62. Nine years later there still isn’t a day that goes by that I do not miss her. She was my mother and I love her. Why did this happen? Am […]
Know you can survive. You may not think so, but you can. Struggle with “Why” it happened until you no longer need to know “Why” or until you are satisfied with partial answers. Know you may feel overwhelmed by the intensity of your feelings but all your feelings are normal. Anger, guilt, confusion, forgetfulness are […]
How do we help our surviving children when we as parents are overwhelmed by our own grief? Many bereaved parents face this question when their child dies and they have surviving children at home. When parents encounter this situation, I encourage them to get as much help for themselves as their children. It is normal for […]
“There were so many unanswered questions and every time I wanted to ask someone, I was told that everything was fine and I shouldn’t worry.” His words at age 34 still held the agony of his loss which had occurred when he was a child of six. His father died suddenly and no one seemed […]
I did not manage my grief better than any other widow. But I have learned over the past two years that there are ways a widow can help herself/himself: STAY IN CHARGE OF YOUR OWN LIFE: Do not let your children or anyone else manage your money and activities. It is easy to let yourself […]
The death of a partner at any age is one of the most challenging of all life events. It has implications for all aspects of all our lives, physical, mental, emotional, financial and spiritual. It is influenced by many factors, e.g. the length and type of the relationship, whether the death was sudden or expected, […]
“Can’t get over it.” “It’s time to move on.” “Wasn’t That FOUR YEARS AGO?” “Don’t worry. At least you’re still alive.” Do any of these statements sound familiar? Maybe for some of you, all of them do. Do you feel frustrated and weak when people criticize you for feeling grief over the loss of your […]
“…the death of a parent is not something that becomes easier with age, nor is it a loss that fades with time: on the contrary, a parent’s death stays with you and shapes you for the rest of your life; it becomes a condition of your existence, like having blue eyes or black hair.” — […]
Although the baby never cried out, suckled at its mother’s breast, or slept in the newly decorated nursery, the child was a part of the parents as much as any child born into a family. Coping with the tragedy of the loss of an infant in pregnancy is not easy and many mothers say that […]
How Do People Deal With Grief? People handle their grief in different ways. Some ways people can use to deal with grief: Find the right type of support for you Read books about grief Talk with a counselor Watch videos about grief Join a grief support group Go to a grief information session or workshop […]