-
“First Morning”
Those left behind wake up without their loved oneThis is the first morning we are without you on earth.The sun greeted us after a week of rainIn your eastern green and mountain homelands.Plants are fed, the river restored, and you have been woveninto a path of embracing stars of all colorsNow free of the suffering that shapes us here. In “First Morning,” Poet…
/
-
Young and Grieving: The Key to Supporting Bereaved Children (Interview)
Michaeleen Burns of Judi’s House explains how individuals, communities and governments can better care for millions of bereaved children and caregiversChild and family psychologist Michaeleen (Micki) Burns can relate to bereaved children. She was first drawn to the field because she was inspired by her parents to give back. Her father was a school teacher and her mother raised eight children. Then, when Burns, who lived in a small town in Kansas, was a senior…
/
-
What Happens to Our Brain When We Die?
A new study suggests life may truly flash before our eyesThousands of accounts exist from those who died but lived to talk about it. Many of these people readily share their near-death experiences and often relay a similar story. They experience something called a life recall in which the totality of their collective life experience plays out in a flash before their eyes just before…
/
-
“The Book of Self-Care: Remedies for Healing Mind, Body, and Soul”
This is a practical beginner’s guide to inner transformationIn “The Book of Self-Care: Remedies for Healing Mind, Body, and Soul,” Mary Beth Janssen invites us to become spiritual warriors. Because simple daily practices, breathing, and mindfulness are good remedies for what ails us, she hopes that we may learn to understand the healing capacity we each possess within us. The challenge is to…
/
-
“Wake Me Up When September Ends”
Rock music’s take on what it’s like to lose a parent at the age of 10Green Day emerged as part of the punk rock scene in the Bay Area of California in the 1980s. The front man and lyricist Billie Joe Armstrong has written many of the band’s songs. Armstrong recorded his first song at the age of 5. One of his most personal songs is “Wake Me Up When…
/
-
Deathbed Visions: You Say “Goodbye,” and I Say “Hello”
The dying regularly report visits from dead friends, relatives and even pets during their final weeks or hoursWhen actress Betty White, best known as one of the original “Golden Girls,” died in December 2021 at the age of 99, her last word was reportedly “Allen.” Allen Ludden was White’s third husband and the great love of her life; the one Bob Saget reported she expected to be united with after death. “It’s…
/
-
Loneliness in COVID Times
This emotional pandemic is deadlyAn apt definition of loneliness is “the state of distress or discomfort that results when one perceives a gap between one’s desires for social connection and actual experiences of it.” These psychological discrepancies have clear physical ramifications; especially in the COVID era, they can have lethal consequences.
/
-
Over 1 Million Years of Young Life Lost Due to Drug Overdose, Study Shows
Young people are succumbing to drug overdoses at an unacceptable rateA new analysis of drug overdose deaths in the U.S. shows that young people between the ages of 10-24 lost a total of over 1 million cumulative years of life to drug overdoses between 2014 and 2019. Led by Dr. O. Trent Hall, D.O. of Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, a team…
/
-
Harriet Hodgson Uses Grief Doodling to Teach Kids About Loss
Simple scribbles can be a useful tool for healingMost of us have probably doodled a random drawing or few. The margins of a notebook or a scrap piece paper provide a fine canvas for this erratic art. It’s a seemingly mindless activity as our thoughts wander off from any task at hand. But researchers are touting health benefits that doodling or drawing may…
/
Want an Easier Way to Plan a Memorial Event? Get our FREE guide
“7 Ways to Create an Amazing Celebration of Life”
