Grief & Loss
When we lose someone who was close to us, feelings of grief are a natural part of the healing process. The wife who has lost her husband or the mother who has lost her child can feel a sense of grief and loss that may feel impossible to overcome. A major loss can affect every aspect of our lives and create a profound disruption in the way we approach our daily routines. In truth, our daily routines may still revolve around the one who we have lost, without the healing needed to move forward with our lives.
However, this doesn’t mean that we need to bear our sadness alone and in silence. In addition to sharing our sense of loss with those around us who care about us, it also helps to know that we are part of a larger picture. That picture includes many others who have experienced the exact same emotions and situations that we may be currently immersed in. Here, in this section, we explore those feelings of grief and loss that are universal to us all, in the hope that we may offer a hand out of the destructive pattern of unresolved grief and onto the path of healing.
~ George Parker, N.D.
Grief & Loss Stories
Surviving Tragedy – The loss of loved ones is inevitable. The tragedy is not so much for the one who has passed as it is for those who remain and suffer guilt, regrets and loneliness…. [read on]
I went to a party, Mom… There are times when adversity seems to visit us in forms that we had never anticipated. We can live our whole lives attempting to do what we know is right…. [read on]
Death With Dignity… My story is not about death as the title implies…it’s truly about a well-lived and joyous life. My mom was a vigorous women her entire life; captain of the cheerleading…. [read on]
Tsunami… Harumi Watanabe rushed home to her elderly parents as soon as the earthquake struck. “I closed my shop and drove as quickly as I could,” she said…. [read on]
A Fresh Journey Through Loss… The day I lost my husband my heart felt ripped out, a feeling I had never experienced before. I felt clarity in the moment and confusion over where I was going…. [read on]
The light on SAD… I self-diagnosed SAD when I was 17 or 18. I read about the condition and made the connection. I’d felt a “darkness” come over me for as long as I could remember…. [read on]
Emma’s Story… You’d never pick him out as an abuser, he was small built and never got into fights and everyone who met him thought he was a sweet guy. When I was thrown out of home…. [read on]
My Journey from Darkness to Light… Mother used to say that as a young girl I was either all the way up or all the way down! Little did she know that even at an early age I was…. [read on]
My Journey to Freedom… After years of struggling with my health, after years of giving and giving to others, and after several changes of direction in my life, I was spent on all levels….. [read on]
Oklahoma… My last drunk began on December 31st 1984; it was literally a nightmare. As I drove to a New Year’s Eve party located in rural Oklahoma, I swore to myself that I would control my drinking….. [read on]
One Fatal Mistake… In a lush Victoria park, Mercedes had decided to swallow a tiny pink pill given to her by a friend….. [read on]
Daddy’s Hands… Daddy was a man of small stature, but he had a big heart, and big, strong hands. When I was very young, his hands were always calloused from hard work…. [read on]
Finding Laughter Again… Laughter. That strange emotion that causes us to breathe funny, makes our face wrinkle upwards, brings funny sounds from our throats and sometimes even…. [read on]
A Life Changing Cup of Coffee… Have you ever had a truth slammed into your gut like the fist of God getting your attention? I had one such experience about six months after my daughter…. [read on]
At The End of Your Rope? Be A Frayed Knot!… They were very happy in their eleventh year of marriage, her third and his third. Alcoholism, abuse, cheating, all this was the behavior…. [read on]
The Greatest Accomplishment is Not in Never Falling, But in Rising Again After the Fall… These are the words I’m trying to live by. My name is Molly McMaster and I’m a colon cancer survivor… [read on]
Playing Hide & Seek with Grief: Recovering from Loss… The church service had just begun and the congregation and guests were greeting one another. A friend, who knew four of my family… [read on]
No Time to Say Goodbye… There are many things we do or are engaged in that we know when it’s time to say “Goodbye”, “It’s Finished”, “Project Completed”…. [read on]
I Want to Dance with My Father Again… I sat alone in my car and waited for a break. The rain looked like thousands of winter icicles spiraling downward as it poured from the sky…. [read on]
A Broken Child: Richard’s Heartbreaking Story… My 14-year-old son, Richard, is in his room, with the door locked; and I can hear his deep, wrenching sobs through the door as he cries….. [read on]
Suggestions for Someone Who’s Grieving…Something has left your life and changed it. However much you may wish otherwise, you will never be the same…… [read on]
Stories of Grief…I lost my Mom almost a year ago, and there are times where I just feel like I can not breathe. The grief and loss that comes over me all at once is more than I can bear at times…… [read on]
Moving stories about Grief and those left behind…Grief Through the Eyes of Children at Camp Jonathan & When A New Born Baby Dies….. [read on]
Death of Grandchild is a Double Loss…My name is Sherry Van Pelt. I am a wife to my husband Max of 43 years, a mother of three and a grandmother of three. I am also an author and speaker….. [read on]
Mother Learns How to Comfort Bereaved Son…I was used to fixing the problems Timothy, my youngest son, encountered when he was a child. If his older brother knocked down his castle…. [read on]
Unexpected Healing: A Memoir of a Father’s Death to Cancer…“If anyone strikes my heart, it does not break, but it bursts and the flame coming out of it becomes a torch on my path.”… [read on]
Today is Thanksgiving Day… And Today is Jason’s Birthday…Today is Thanksgiving Day…and today is Jason’s birthday…and we are so thankful that Jason came to be our son…. [read on]
Abortion Regret…I had just returned home from the clinic. I had made my choice…I’d had an abortion. Tired, weary and hurting I tried to sleep… [read on]
I Regretted But It Was Too Late…I woke up one morning hearing my grandma (who lives a few houses away from us) shouting for my mom to help call the ambulance. Within minutes … [read on]
Forever In My Heart…We sat together on the steps of the department. A small building. Falling apart from constant use. You could see the tiredness of the wooden doors and the weariness … [read on]
A 15-Year Journey of a Lifetime…Growing up in a large Italian family, I learned quickly the importance of family. We were a tightly knit traditional family. My father grew up around his aunt and uncles…. [read on]
Grief & Loss: Quotes and Poems
“The loss of a friend is like that of a limb; time may heal the anguish of the wound, but the loss cannot be repaired.” — Southey….. [read on]
Christianity and the Bible – It’s an interesting thing when those who practice Christianity find it difficult to relate their religious practices to spirituality. They may limit their faith to the writings….. [read on]
NBC asks – Is There Life After Death
Your Mother is Always With You – Mourning The Loss