In 1969, Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross published On Death and Dying and later went on to launch the Hospice movement in America. Even though her studies focused more on those who were dying than the caregivers that were left behind, her work has had enormous influence on the understanding of various stages of death and grief. [click to continue…]
I taught school for a dozen years and loved every one of them. But the day came when I realized I had done everything I could with my job and had no more to give. To keep myself creative I started writing articles for educational magazines and several were published. The idea of becoming a writer intrigued me, so I gave the school several months notice and quit my job to pursue this new career. [click to continue…]
Most of us have learned through life experiences about grieving the death of a pet. You probably have memories of growing up with a pet dog, cat, bird, hamster, snake, turtle, chameleon, or fish – maybe you even tried to breed some of these creatures. We can lose a pet due to old age, accident, or failing health. If you have ever had and loved a pet, you have felt and been through the grief that comes after the death of your loved companion. [click to continue…]
There is very little training available for coping with death or help for dealing with grief. We come into this world with very little and we leave on the same terms, but along the way we become richer in what we learn, who we love and the memories that we store.
Our loved ones share in our development, success, failures; loves, losses and their memories of times with us build along life’s journey. So when we depart, it is those fond memories we leave behind for others to remember, and if that can be our focus during periods of grief, then grieving can be a positive emotion instead of a memory of loss. [click to continue…]
No one likes to think about illness and death, when we are well, we feel invincible and there is nothing that can prepare us for the shock and devastation of a terminal diagnosis. The knowledge that we can no longer take our lives or the lives we share with our loved ones for granted takes away our ability to plan for the future and removes hope from our lives. When a loved one becomes terminally ill, we grieve in anticipation of their death, we grieve for the loss of them in our lives and we grieve for our own mortality. [click to continue…]
Actively living life while anticipating a death is an exquisite, exhausting dance of celebrating all that is, and all that we must let go. This dance, so necessary, is one of the most difficult to navigate.
Many years ago, while facilitating for a group for caregivers, I posed this question: What are some of the ways you continue to enjoy life while caring for someone who is dying? My question was met with stunned silence. All eyes were on me as I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. [click to continue…]