Words for the Journey

“Open to Hope Handling the Loss of a Child” with guest Dr. Ken Druck. Dr Ken Druck discusses the loss of daughter Jenna and the Center he went on to find, The Jenna Druck Center which serves teenagers and their families. Guest Chris Donohoe shares his gift of song and his story of healing after the death of his brother.

Barbara shares her experience of helping using art to help people communicate grief and loss. Association of Death Education and Counseling

“Open to Hope Handling the Loss of a Child” with guest Patricia Loder. Pat Loder, Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends discusses the Compassionate Friends and her loss as a parent of her two children Stephen and Stephanie. Pat has gone on to help so many in need.To Watch the Show in it’s entirety

When my husband was killed, it was all I could do to breathe.  When suffering a loss, every day is overwhelming.  Some days you are at the point of breaking.  Anyone with me?

I worshipped her and her remarkable powers – her ability to read, to ride a two-wheeler, to talk intelligently, and to entertain. 

Dr Diana Sands, Director of the Bereaved by Suicide Centre for Intense Grief in Sydney Australia talks about activities to help children cope with the death of a loved one by suicide. Association of Death Education and Counseling 

Arizona-based nonprofit Widowed Community Education & Support Services, Inc (WCESS) is organizing its 2nd annual three-day conference, October 26-28, 2012, in Tempe, Arizona for anyone whose spouse or partner has died. 

Be kind to yourself.Even when you are racked with grief, and at your lowest ebb, focussing on your own needs will actually help you regain a sense of balance.Getting your emotional needs met is a way of looking after yourself.It is not selfish.But it is fundamental to you getting back on your feet.

I was watching a promotional ad on television recently for the show “Intervention” and saw a quote from Ernest Hemingway, which read: “The world breaks everyone, and afterward many are strong at the broken places.” Actually, this quote is a passage from Hemingway’s novel: “A Farewell to Arms.” Hemingway was one of the great American writers of his time, who died in 1961 as a result of suicide.

As my boys and I one year mark of loosing Bob gets closer, we begin to prepare ourselves.  How can one prepare for this kind of thing?  Loss, it will come to us all.  It is the reality that hits you between the eyes like a boulder from nowhere. 

Suicide SurvivalNews, searing pain, disbelief, questions, sadness, what if, emptiness, darkness . . .  

September 10th of every year is World Suicide Prevention Day, and while most of us would rather not think about suicide at all, it has increasingly become everyone's problem. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, someone will die by suicide every twenty seconds.  Forever changed we survivors are, and charged with the greatest of challenges~how to harvest the pearls beneath the turbulent waters of catastrophic grief and help reduce suicide's horrible numbers.