Dealing with Grief and Fears

Not all hurricanes are created equal, but in Miami, we take all of them very seriously, especially since August 16, 1992, when Hurricane Andrew devastated our city. After being in self-isolation since March, it was alarming for me…

Over the last several months, everyone everywhere has lost someone or something. People have lost their lives or livelihood. The coronavirus continues to spread worldwide and impact millions. No one is without some…

I love that the month of August celebrates National Smile day. Smiling is powerful. It releases a flurry of feel-good hormones that elevate our mood, decrease stress, and reduce anger. And when people see our smile…

I’ve been pacing like a cat in a Covid cage; isolated from others, hungry for interaction, desperate for relationship, and feeling the stress of being alone in a pandemic. Can you relate? Things get so quiet when you live alone. The cat meows…

The aftermath of a parent’s death – especially when it’s your second parent – provokes a range of feelings: confusion, loneliness, anger, regret… and, of course, sadness. Sooner or later, however, you’ll find yourself back…

The first thing that happens is that I burst into scorching tears of anger. What prompts this awkward response? An email message from Instacart popping up in my inbox canceling the order I had spent over an hour placing…

The Covid pandemic and required quarantine have been tough on all of us, there is no question. But I dare say they has been particularly hard on those of us who have been widowed – whether recently or not – and are spending…

I’ve been a bit of an insomniac lately. Possibly because my life, like the lives of most citizens of the world, has been turned upside down by this pandemic. Nondescript days flow into nights of wondering how it got dark so fast…

When someone we love leaves us or dies, the neural networks in our brain that are wired for connection short out. This is a completely natural but frightening experience. When you lose someone, you grieve the loss of the connection…

As the winter of 2020 turned to spring, the death toll from Covid-19 seemed insurmountable. For funeral directors, it was the darkest and most challenging time we’ve ever faced. In an industry built on personal contact and…