Family

Estrangement is widespread, complicated, and harms all involved. Perhaps you have chosen to cut off from a family member out of necessity. Your experience may include abuse, poor parenting, parental alienation, divorce, poor communication…

My first experience with death and mourning occurred with the untimely death of my late husband, Michael. Losing my soul mate was debilitating. I can best describe myself as shattered and shocked…

We always think holiday time in November and December is so busy, but if you are a parent or grandparent, have you ever realized how busy summer is? Last days of school, finals, graduations, Memorial Day, vacations, 4th of July… whew!

Have you become exasperated with some of your friends as you’ve aged? Friends you once enjoyed… now you find difficult to be with? Lately, I’ve noticed that it is a little too easy to “cancel” people as we age. You can say the slightest thing…

You have just become a grandmother – or perhaps you have been one for a long time. It is so very exciting to have a new baby in your life. Not to mention all the other stages, from toddlers right on up. But one thing you will have noticed is that…

Divorcing after a long marriage is difficult, made even more so when the divorce is ugly, and you are left feeling not only disrespected but erased. I know, no one can MAKE you feel any one way. Your feelings are your own. And, in theory, I agree with that…

When I was a young married person, I would sometimes find myself in the company of an older married couple who had been together for a very long time. It was impossible not to notice that they would frequently disagree over the most unimportant…

A recent visit to my daughter’s home and the celebration of Mother’s Day struck a nerve in me. I felt sad (as I have at times before) and wished I had been a better mom to my two daughters. Especially now, as I observe my first-born parenting…

Family estrangement for women in their 60s is more common than you think. More than 70 million people in the United States report experiencing estrangement from family members. For some, estrangement is a choice due to self-preservation…

I write often about grieving and the feelings one can experience when they are in the throes of it. Many in the beginning feel that the pain is now so much a part of them that to give it up would somehow be a betrayal to the lost spouse…