Crisis Support

Lately, I have been overwhelmed with the pain that so many people experience in their lives. I cannot seem to get away from it, and in a strange way I am drawn to their experiences, trying to see if there…
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The answer to this question is, absolutely not! I’m sure there are a great many of us who have had to answer this dilemma. I know for myself personally, it was the most difficult decision I ever had to make….
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Choosing the right words to console a grieving friend or family member can be very difficult and sometimes awkward. The level of comfort that you have in expressing your emotions in general will be an indicator of how you will…
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One of the hardest cards to send has to be the sympathy card. Sympathy cards are sent during times of sorrow, tragedy, and loss. It is during these times that the right words seem to elude us or even escape…
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Dealing with any death is difficult, family even moreso than others. One of the most difficult is the death of a grandmother. The matriarch of a family, a grandmother holds a very unique position of strength and leadership. With her…
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Everyone has an opion on life and death. Our beliefs and teachings are what brings us to our opions on death. Question: How long can someone be held on Life Support? Answer: That is not something we can predict. Depending…
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Five years passed by before my husband and I had our beautiful baby boy. When he was just four months old, we found out we were being blessed with another baby. At first we were in shock since it took…
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An acquaintance of mine died a couple of weeks ago. When I read his obituary, I called another acquaintance to tell him about it. He said what everyone, almost invariably, says in these situations: “But I just talked to him…
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I feel that every one who is old enough to decide on how to be viewed should be permitted to choose. Normally, the younger generation doesn’t seem to be concerned about it. Even when they loose a close friend or…
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I lost my parents as well; my mom at a very early age and my dad when I was a teenager. These losses were significant but I can say that I was lucky to have other supportive family members which…
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Unfortunately, the ability to cope with grief is easier learned as a child than taught as an adult. One of the greatest gifts a parent could give their child is to teach them a lesson on coping with grief. Although…
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When a medical team puts someone on life support, it is usually an emergency, the patient is unconscious, cannot speak for himself and there are no family members present to make medical decisions. Doctors are committed to saving lives and…
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Losing a loved one is the most devastating thing that any of us will go through in this life. The grief is overwhelming, taking over every other part of our life for a season. We are completely helpless to reverse…
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When I was fifteen, I lost my girlfriend to murder. It has been the most debilitating event of my life. It is an event that I have not “gotten over.” It haunts me every day and every night. I still…
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We,as humans, are all one. What happens to one of us, affects us all. It might seem funny to think of it that way, as we have had the thought of me,me,me for so long,But we also have free will….
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BEST FRIENDS PARTING My mother was always my best friend. We had a special relationship I will cherish as long as I live. When I found out that I was inflicted with a virus that could easily cut my life…
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What most people do not understand is that a person, especially a child that has suffered trauma will in some cases remain unaware that the trauma occurred. This is the result of repressed memories which are the mind’s mechanism to…
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Think of the person closest to you at this very moment in time. Remember all the laughs, the good times, and even try to recall the bad. Think of how you helped each other through those bad times such as…
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Food tasted like ashes. Drink tasted like blood. I still can’t have the full enjoyment of life. I was twelve when I first met Caine. That was her last name. We always went by last name. She was thirteen at…
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Grief comes in many different forms, the loss of a dream, a divorce, the passing of a beloved pet and then there is the death of someone near to our heart. There are also many different levels of feelings that…
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Before my husband died, life was just moving along. We were young, had a one year old daughter. He was in the army, only in his second month at our first permanent duty station. Thinking back, I remember often daydreaming…
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I was fourteen weeks along and had that radiant glow that only a mother-to-be could possess. I was the picture of perfect pregnant health; after all, I practiced Yoga, meditated, and ate well. My belly was starting to expand, I…
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What to Write in a Sympathy Card: Grieving can be a confusing and overwhelming time for the mourner and for friends and family trying to be supportive. Grieving involves so many different emotions: sadness, loss, guilt, emptiness. It’s often hard…
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Every individual deals with grief in his or her own way. How we handle our personal losses may be extremely different from how another person handles their losses. In any case, if a friend or acquaintance has lost someone or…
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Having experienced several losses of people that were close to me in the past year, as well as knowing others that have lost loved ones of their own, I have both given and received many sympathy notes. These often go…
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I know people who won’t send a sympathy card – or even express sympathy in person – because they do not know what to write in the card – or what to say and do. Thankfully, I know others who…
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What happens if you’re told that it’s your fault that your brother committed suicide? The thought enters my mind, “I killed my brother!” How would you like this to be placed upon your shoulders? You tell yourself that your the…
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My dear friend, my first true love, how am I supposed to say good-bye? It’s so early yet and our hello is hardly past. This is not the way it was supposed to be. We were supposed to have plenty…
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Grief comes in many forms and in many instances. It doesn’t just have to be the death of a loved one. Grief also comes when someone you care about has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, become paralyzed, loss of…
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For years, I felt that I was condemned to a life lived as an afterthought of my past. Growing up in as much dysfunction as I had, it seemed that I didn’t even know the first thing about what “normal”…
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