An Open Letter to Siblings, From Caregivers.

Family history and dynamics can be brutal. We know that, for whatever reason, you weren’t able to care for our parent and we were. We understand that you may also have been too busy/ill/occupied to help us with our parents’ care so we thought it was best to just go ahead and do what was […]

The Turn of the Year.

I made Christmas cookies yesterday, which always makes me nostalgic. Mom used to make ten or fifteen types of cookies; she made some of the same kind every year but she also liked to experiment with a new recipe or two every year. I remember what the shelf looked like with all the cookie tins […]

What if Everything Just Happens.

“We are neither our point of origin nor our goal; the former is long gone, the latter forever recedes as we move forward. We are the journey itself…The great rhythm of gain and loss is outside of our control; what remains within our control is the attitude of willingness to find in even the bitterest […]

A Passion for Compassion.

As I’ve been going about my day, my grief for my father weighing on my neck and pushing at the back of my eyes, I’ve been looking at the people around me, which I’ve always loved doing. I thought about the fact that it’s possible that everyone we see walking around during our day is walking […]

Mini Grief Day!

During a grief group I recently co-facilitated, the main concern of most, if not all, of the attendees was, “When is it going to end?” Most of them were people who had lost their loved one recently – in the last few months – but they were already tired of the process, tired of the […]