grief
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
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
Grief And Spiritual Healing
Every one of us deals with loss at some point in our lives. A family member, a friend, even our beloved pets. We may be angry or depressed long after the loss occurs, and ask ourselves why it happened. As we work through the stages of grief, keeping a sense of spirituality is essential.
It’s natural to ask our higher power for answers. We have to keep the lines of communication open. In doing so, we work through our grief and learn more about ourselves. This is called “soulwork,” or “soul-searching.” It should not be confused with connecting to our loved ones on the other side, though this may be part of the journey. Expressing grief is the most important thing we can do. Continue reading