A friend or relative has passed away, but unfortunately a lot of people could not attend a funeral service. The person may have died in a foreign country or circumstances where the funeral just wasn’t possible. They may have also…
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I work in a cancer hospice, I see death everyday, I watch people come to die, I see how their last days are lived, who is with them in their last moments, are they alone?. Have they had a chance…
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Grief is not something any of us wants to learn how to manage, but there comes a time in all our lives, some sooner than others, when we don’t have a choice. When a loved one is taken from us,…
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There are few things in life that make sense when you are forced to let go of someone who is dear to your heart. There are no words to utter to relieve you of that temporary agony. I say “temporary,”…
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Children are a blessing. Some couples seem nearly overwhelmed with those blessings; other times they are very hard to come by. For a select group of us, there is but one blessed little arrow in our quiver. (To quote the…
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The death of someone that you love can be very difficult to handle. This is especially true if you are responsible for the financial obligations associated with the funeral. If you do not have a lot of money yourself, there…
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Loss. What does it mean to loose someone. I mean, physically the person who had passed on may not be there; however, mentally and spiritually they are. The people live on through memories. Those memories may be through pictures, stories,…
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Coping with the death of a loved one is not only one of the most difficult human experiences to face, it is also an extremely personal event. In many cases, loved ones struggle through prolonged illnesses or are extremely old,…
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A natural cycle of life has been disrupted with the loss of a child. In a normal world for us, our child would have to oversee our death and burial plans, not the other way around. Our natural initial response would…
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One would hardly expect a licensed funeral director, dedicated to embalming a body as hard as a rock, breathing in toxic embalming fluid fumes, and committed to bringing in a large fee per funeral based upon 100-300% mark ups on…
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I was ten years old when they died. I can’t describe the pain, the confusion and the grief I felt as a ten year old who loses two of her brothers. Matthew, my first brother to die, was only eight…
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Funerals are occasions where flowers abound. They are brought to bring beauty and to honor the person who passed away. If you’ve ever been in charge of taking care of funeral arrangements and clean-ups, you have probably looked at all…
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Suicidal death, leaves us with so many questions unanswered. The mental anguish of the victim of suicide now tortures our mind with unknown explanations running rampant through our minds. We feel as if we have been turned inside out with grief, devastation…
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There is no real answer to this question. There is no precise or defined way to cope with the loss of a child or a pregnancy. Different things will work for some people, and everyone’s method of coping is different….
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Dealing with death? Dealing with death is easy. You just die. Everybody dies. In fact, most people who’ve lived have died. It’s not death that’s the hard part to deal with. It’s life. It’s suffering. Life has always been the…
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Suicide is a tragedy for all it touches. A person so depressed that they cannot face life any more may take their own life. Their loved ones have to deal with not only their sudden death but also the strong…
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My daughter Faith is about to turn 5 this week (Aug 16th, 2008). In the past 5 years, she’s lost her Papa (my father) and 3 dogs, one of while she still cries for regularly. We had visited a friend…
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A dying person should choose his or her own funeral rituals if he wants to. It should be 100% up to the individual if this is something that is important to him or not. Some will undoubtedly have strong preferences…
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To make the statement that suicide is justified under any circumstances would be irresponsible, reckless and dangerous. That it is sometimes understandable is a completely different issue since there are circumstances such as when someone is suffering with a painful…
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Making the decision to terminate life support for a terminally ill patient is one of the most difficult decisions for anyone to make, patient and family alike. It is a time of great struggle and a time of great selfishness….
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What to do when someone dies and there is no time for good-byes.Working in my hair salon one afternoon about 10 years ago I received a phone call my brother-in-law Bob was being rushed to the hospital he was in…
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The death of a loved one, even when it is expected, leaves a tremendous void. The ones left behind are faced with the profound task of picking up the pieces of their lives and finding a way to go on….
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Most of us have been taught by religion, society and family that this is the worst sin that one could possibly commit. In many ways it is a horrible act, but not necessarily a sin. It is horrible that one…
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My mother wanted to go on a cruise before she died. She knew the cancer had spread. She knew the doctor didn’t do the test she insisted on. She knew the one doctor that was honest told her she had…
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Grief is deeply and intensely personal, making it so difficult to deal with because each person’s experience with it is different. The uniqueness of the grief is due to so many variables that play into it that truly it is…
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Often, it is important to a dying person that his memorial conform to the wishes that he expresses; therefore, if death is imminent, this will have to be expressed to someone whom they trust to follow through with the plans,…
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I was about five years old when my fathers’ beloved mother died suddenly and quite unexpectedly. My elder brother and I had gone to school in the morning and walked back home for lunch. At home mother greeted us quietly…
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A few years ago my answer to this question would have been a resounding “no.” Many things have changed since then. After seeing several friends and family members’ commit suicide, I realize now that it can be justified. In fact,…
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There is always time for good-byes! Yes there are people in our life whom we feel so dear to the departed, that we want to be there, holding their hands and looking into their eyes, but the truth of the…
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I do believe that in the bible somewhere it tells us of how much of a sin it is to take ones own life, or can I say that dirty word suicide? I’m sure if I say it out loud…
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