grief
My Grandfather’s Gift Of Love
Cherubic looking, my grandfather had a round face that was quick to reveal his kindness and sense of empathy. He was just as fast to express humor, which he frequently did. His tummy shook a bit when he laughed… like Santa Claus. He was a little, round Irish man that doted on me when I was deeply in need of this level of nurturing.
It’s not a bad story, as stories go. I was simply born to a couple of kids. My mother and father were naive country folk, and very young. I think that children back then, especially at those tender ages, were even younger than their years, as compared to today’s off-spring. The world was also naive then, compared to now. In any case, when I was an infant they left me with my grandfather to raise, due to his insistence. Continue reading
In Our Own Time
We come in to this existence, and later depart, according to our own timeline. My husband and I recently observed the one year anniversary of our daughter Kathy’s passing. As painful as her death continues to be for us, it is none the less something we have no choice but to deal with.
Kathy was a private and reclusive person and did not have a lot of really close friends. However, the ones she did have were especially precious to her and she nourished and valued those friendships. I had a phone call recently from one of her friends, who is still struggling with Kathy’s passing. She and Kathy were definitely kindred spirits and they turned to each other frequently when times got especially trying. Continue reading
Gone Too Soon
When I was younger, I used to always love going to the cemetery. I just loved spending time there reading, or contemplating all the mysteries of life. I would connect with my higher consciousness and enjoy the silence. It is one of the few places I was able to disconnect and separate myself from the drama and chaos of the world, and embrace stillness and solitude.
I have started visiting the cemetery again recently, but this time with a heavy heart. I have been visiting the grave of a young child who crossed over way to soon.
A friend of a friend lost her son to a terrible accident, while playing in their yard. I had always felt something tragic was going to happen if a certain dangerous item was not removed from the yard. I had mentioned this on several occasions to our mutual friend, but sadly the necessary changes were never made. Continue reading
It’s Lucky I’m So Tough
In the area where we live the government has a program called Homeshare. What that means is people like my husband and myself will take in an individual with some type of disability. We are paid to have them come and live with us as part of our family. After our daughter passed away, we thought we might enrich our lives and help with our grieving by helping out someone else. We did not want to look after children or someone with extreme difficulties, as we are seniors and felt someone of that nature would prove to be too much of a burden for us. Continue reading
A Flame From The Afterlife
There are many different ways our loved ones come back to show us that they are watching over us from the other side. I have to share one of the most wonderful stories I was told of a sign from beyond that re-affirms one’s faith in the afterlife.
Paul and his buddy Steve would always go fishing when he was alive and they always enjoyed each other’s company. They would look forward to those days when they could escape to the nearest lake, put a line in the water and just forget all about life’s troubles and routine.
Eight years after Steve passed away, Paul went out fishing again to one of their favorite fishing spots. When he opened his tackle box he spotted an old cigarette lighter that Steve had given him back in the early 90’s. It never really worked back then; it was one of those cheap lighters and it leaked. Paul had kept it, because he believed it always gave them good luck when they were fishing together. Continue reading
Her Husband Returned To Say ‘I Love You’
When someone we love dearly suddenly passes from an accident, or in some way they are taken too soon, they often return to say goodbye. They come back to tell us they love us one last time, before they go on to do whatever it is our souls do on the other side.
We are apparently given time to visit those we were not given the opportunity to say whatever we wished to before we cross over. I have found these afterlife visitations to be true through my own personal experiences, as well as that of friends, family and clients. One of my clients, a very sweet mother of two children, lost her husband suddenly in a motorcycle accident. She was never able to say that she loved him that day, before he left for work. Continue reading
You Can Never Say ‘I Love You’ Too Much
A dear client of mine always complained about her mother-in-law who constantly said, “I love you!” My client is not used to hearing this. Both her parents were alcoholics and never expressed much emotion towards her and her siblings.
One day she was on the phone talking to her mother-in-law and felt bad afterwards, because when she had passed the phone to her husband while she repeated over and over, in a mocking way and imitating her voice saying, “I love you, I love you, I love you…” When her husband spoke to his mother it was clear that she had overheard her daughter-in-law. She told him that she felt bad for saying “I love you” so much, but it was just that she missed them so much. She truly does love them unconditionally and apologized for maybe saying it too often. She felt she had offended her daughter-in-law in some way. Continue reading