Dealing with Grief and Fears

In recent conversations with about 50 women who were widowed suddenly, I asked, “What do you wish you had known?” One of the most common answers was…
Read More

This is a photo I took of my parents’ joint funeral.

Unbelievably, they both died in the same week, in their sleep, aged 86 and 84. My dad had had a stroke a year previously and hadn’t been doing too well, so it wasn’t entirely unexpected when I got a phone call one morning saying he hadn’t woken up. Read More

Funerals can be expensive. There’s no doubt about that. In 2017, the median cost of a funeral was listed as $7,360 on the National Funeral Directors Association’s website…
Read More

Christmas, much like the other holidays, is a time when people look forward to the comforting nature of tradition, but when a death happens, the tradition is disrupted. Read More

“I wouldn’t be caught dead in that!” This is such a common phrase, even if we just think it to ourselves, rather than say it out loud. Usually, it’s an invitation, Usually, it’s an invitation…
Read More

As we get older, we start losing friends and family. Sometimes we just lose touch with them, with less visits, less phone calls, less letters. Sometimes they fade away from life because of health conditions…
Read More

Just after the loss of a spouse, we are often absolutely certain that we will never be happy again. Even if it felt remotely possible, being happy again would feel like an insult to our beloved…
Read More

We don’t have to live with fear! Many people may say they do not fear anything, and so they speak and defend themselves in all situations. They state they have no fear phobias, but in truth, the fears or worries that go into daily living cause us the most stress. Read More

I never thought about death much, other than as a concept, until my husband was diagnosed with cancer in 2010. Then it made its entrance with a bang. Even though he was 65, it felt far too young to be contemplating death. Read More

I’ve heard many times that aging is about loss, and I don’t disagree. But I would offer that it’s also about hard-earned gains – which are often the result of those losses. It’s true that with time life throws us curveballs…
Read More