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Valentine’s Day for the Broken-hearted
February 14th conjures up images of love and romance. Yet, some of us have only memories to hold on grasp. Yet others have reminders of broken promises, emotional abandonment, and worse. I ask myself, “How do I celebrate this special day of love without the one I love?” My heart, which still bursts with love,…
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New Beginnings
During the last four months of 2021, I was mourning the loss of my wife, Jan, to a fatal stroke after 26 months as an invalid resulting from three other strokes. I went to Tennessee to visit my sister two months after the funeral, and went to Colorado over Christmas to visit with my son…
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Thoughts for the New Year
Rudyard Kipling, in his book Bridge Building, says, “Never look backward, or you’ll fall down the stairs.” This statement, in the context of his book, inspires serious philosophical and existential questions related to the duality between science and the spiritual. Still, it also evokes a fear of looking back at where so much of life…
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Pathfinder
To a man, we are stepping into Christmas with much trepidation or resignation. Without our wives, it is, for some, a terrible time and, for others, at best, a melancholy time. For me, this year will be melancholy. But I told my grief therapist today (whom I still see twice a month) that there is…
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Holiday Greetings
So here we are again. Another Holiday season. This marks the 5th consecutive crazy Christmas for me. Christmas in 2018 had my late wife Joyce just completing her first round of a terrible chemotherapy. By Christmas 2019 she had passed away. We all know how the first Christmas goes. Then came 2020 and that silly…
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Take some time this holiday season to honor your loved one
Hard to believe, but another year is quickly ending. The holidays mark when family and friends celebrate our traditions and enjoy the festivities associated with those sacred traditions. My late wife, as I have stated previously, loved the holidays. It was her time to say thanks, and I love you to our family and friends.…
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Gratitude as a weapon against grief and anxiety!
On the verge of Thanksgiving, it would be apropos to discuss GRATITUDE as a means to counter GRIEF. These two antithetical sentiments are not innate to a widow or widower. Gratitude is a decision to consciously be aware of the positive in your life, notwithstanding all the negative and painful aspects. Grief will…
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Grief on Thanksgiving Day
Grief on Thanksgiving Day can happen even when you feel grateful. But there are times when you don’t feel that way. Greif on Thanksgiving Day is normal if you just lost a loved one or if the day is a trigger for you. Most people are planning their holiday meal wrapped around friends, turkey, pumpkin…
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It’s the Holiday Season, and Grief doesn’t take a break
Yes, it is that time of the year again. It’s when family and friends gather to celebrate the special days: Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa, punctuated by office parties, friends gathering to share a meal, some drinks, and a bunch of laughs and lots of good times. They are described in word and song as…
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Surviving the Holidays
Many will tell you that within a week of your wife’s passing, you must steel yourself against the trauma of upcoming special days and holidays. We each are likely to have very different experiences during these special days. Your reaction will depend on how important and memorable each of those days was for you and…
Widowers Support Network 