“The 10th anniversary of Helen’s death is coming up,” I told my husband. “I think we should do something significant—write a large check to the food bank or the public library.” John nodded his head in agreement. Helen died from…
Lighting a candle is usually simple, but when I lit one in memory of my niece during the Worldwide Candle Lighting® this year, I found it to be very difficult. As I was getting ready for church, I received a…
Yoga is not a religion. There is no religious doctrine or dogma practiced in yoga. However, yoga may be practiced in some religions. Yoga means union. We grieving parents need union and connection because we feel broken into a million pieces….
Today someone I loved died. I can’t believe it. I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it. Family comes. Friends come. The phone keeps ringing. The doorbell rings again and again. The ringing seems far away. I hear it but…
As the major holidays approached in the late autumn of 1995, I could feel my anxiety level and deep sadness intensify. Just months before, on my birthday, May 11th, my precious daughter…my Nina…a bright and vivacious 15-year-old with a promising…
I have been honored to serve as President of The Compassionate Friends’ National Board of Directors. After six years of service, I now leave this all-volunteer board confident in our leadership’s commitment to expand TCF’s outreach to grieving families nationwide. Every…
As fall settles in, we shift with the season and focus on the changing leaves, the crisp weather, and giving thanks. Some feel autumn is a sad time when plants shed their leaves and the landscape takes on a cold,…
Imagine a thousand people from around the world taking over the Costa Mesa Hilton: lighting candles, attending workshops, listening to speakers and music. Complete strangers crying, hugging, even laughing in every corner and elevator—it was a big lovefest, kind of…
During early grief, we are preoccupied, distracted, and forgetful. We lose our cars in parking lots, forget pots cooking on the stove and are careless with sharp objects. We are prone to dropping things and falling, all of which make…
I live in another woman’s house. I drive another woman’s car. I wear her clothes and sleep in her bed. Sometimes, I stand in her closet and finger her jewelry and think things like, Why so many necklaces? and Where…
