If you have a grieving friend, today I am asking you to give them permission to feel. Give them the space and the freedom to experience and express all of the ugliness of loss. Sit with them in their discomfort. ...
My husband died a month and seven days ago. The New Year is unavoidable, and I’ll never see him again from 2013 onward. It’s the sad realization of life continues to push forward whether I want it to or not. ...
We all do it-- at least we think we do it. But, breathing is also something we usually do not do very well. We usually breathe without giving it any thought. To truly benefit from breathing, we need to give ...
When I was running a couple of weeks ago, I rubbed my thumb against my ring finger to wiggle my wedding band. I’ve been widowed for four years and stopped wearing my rings well over three years ago. The phantom ...
One evening my friend (who became my husband) and I were sitting in his dorm room getting ready to go to the end of semester banquet. He looked at me and said, I like you. I laughed and said, ...
Baby steps. Open your eyes. That’s one. Get out of bed. That’s two. Breathe. That’s three. This is how it has to be in the beginning. Gentle and unassuming because grief is not. The cycle is exhausting, it tries to ...
“Mommy, there are pilots at the door.” Those seven words, those simple syllables, they changed everything. When I came to, I made the necessary phone calls, at first it came out as a whisper and ...
Zentangle art work above by author, Jill Hochman I used to doodle in class or in meetings. Well, it turns out doodling is actually helpful for concentration and stress relief. I was doodling to help me understand, stay focused, and ...
Dear Hope for Widows Community, Today, August 30, 2017, is National Grief Awareness Day. One might say, Why is there a need for such a day? That would be a great question. In 2013, Angie Cartwright, founded National Grief Awareness ...