Dealing with Grief and Fears

I had a vivid dream the other night. I was preparing to teach a class, but I couldn’t find my notes. As the time for the class drew nearer, I got increasingly stressed that I’d lost my window to prepare. In and of itself, that dream isn’t…
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Death. It is all around us these days. Indeed, you can’t get away from it. Turn on the television and you learn how many people have died from Covid-19 in your country. In the US, it is now over 225,000; in the UK, it is now close to 45,000…
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Have you recently received a negative diagnosis from your doctor? Or have you ever talked with your family about end-of-life issues? Have you and your family discussed quality of life versus quantity of life? How about a DNR…
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Estrangement – what an ugly, harsh-sounding word. Jarring to the ears, in fact. The dictionary definition of estrangement is “to turn away in feeling or affection, make unfriendly or hostile, alienate the affections of.” Estrangements are…
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When we have lost a partner, parent, child, or friend, grief overwhelms us so much that it is hard to make the simplest of decisions. For some, busying ourselves with the practical things that need to happen when a loved one has passed…
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In the past months, I have been navigating the rough and turbulent waters of dementia, trying to cope with the changes I observe in my mother’s behavior. I was oblivious at first – or perhaps I overlooked the signs. I hoped the dementia…
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When I woke up at 8 am on my 68th birthday, I was confused to see that it was still dark. In a day unlike any other in my life, daylight never came. The sky remained dark with a purplish red hue. Cars drove with headlamps lit…
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When one of my nieces was just a little thing, maybe 4 or 5 years old, she saw a spoon rack on her grandmother’s wall (my mother-in-law). It is one of those wooden shelves that holds tiny spoons my in-laws had collected…
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Are you one of the many people afraid to see a doctor because of Covid-19? Are you feeling confused as to when the benefits of seeking healthcare outweigh the risks of the pandemic? Here are some clear-cut guidelines…
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Soon after my book was published, I attended a community luncheon. Several couples were seated at my table, and we introduced ourselves. After watching me for a few minutes, one wife suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, I saw your picture in Sunday’s…
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