Tag Archives: grief
LEADING US THROUGH GRIEF
Just after the bombings in Afghanistan killed American soldiers as well as Afghan citizens, President Biden addressed the families of the dead by saying, “You get this feeling like you’re being sucked into a black hole in the middle of
LIGHTING A CANDLE FOR THE DEAD
Many years ago, I knew a woman who believed in lighting a candle whenever she knew of a life that had ended. Even if it was someone she didn’t know, she felt strongly about the symbolism of lighting the way
IN A FRIEND’S DEATH, A LESSON FOR THE LIVING
I wrote this in 1999; it was published in The Washington Post. Lewis, the friend I lost during a time when so many were dying of AIDS, came into my mind recently, so I decided to reprint this. A
UNWRAPPED HOLIDAY GIFTS
A friend of mine lost his mother to cancer the other day. We’d had a long phone conversation the night before – mostly about getting older and falling prey to diseases that turn out to be cunning hunters. We talked
WHEN A FRIEND DIES
My friend died early this morning, long after midnight and long before dawn. She waged a fierce battle against the cancer that ultimately won. She had been in the hospital for 3 weeks and the night before she died she
ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF MY FATHER’S DEATH
There was a full moon the night before my father died. Like the moon a few nights ago that shone through my window, bright as a prayer. Eleven years have passed since my father’s death and, strange as it may
LEARNING FROM ALZHEIMER’S
I had a powerful teacher in my adult life — one who was uncompromising and harsh, one who reached into the depths of my being, my soul, and rearranged landscapes. One who taught me that what I saw with my