In your grief look back you may be surprised how far you have come

Tools for finding hope along the journey: Looking back


Have you ever been on a long car ride? A really long one? Most of the time you are looking at how much farther you have to go and there is little thought to how far you have already come. The grief journey is similar in that our path stretches out so far with so many briars and barriers. It can feel as if we have made little progress. If we peek behind us can we see how far we have come and it can it give us the strength needed for the next steps?

Artwork by Tanya Lord
About the Artist

Tanya Lord was a special education teacher when Noah died. After his death she read The Institute of Medicine’s report To Err Is Human and realized that the errors responsible for her son’s death were not unique. This created a desire and determination to better understand and work towards improving health care. Currently she has completed a master’s degree in public health and a PhD in clinical and population health research and is completing a post-doctoral fellowship. Lord shares her personal and professional experiences in presentations and workshops for medical staff and students focusing on the importance of effective communication with patients before and after an error. She also is a co-founder of The Grief Toolbox (www.thegrieftoolbox.com), which offers tools to help those along the grief journey. Lord may be contacted at [email protected]