Ten years ago, I was flicking through an autobiography in a bookshop when I came across the words ‘if I could just have Mom back for five minutes…’ I immediately slammed the book shut. Those words hit a nerve – a nerve that had come to define my life. Hidden grief. Ever since my mum had passed away 14 years earlier, I had thought the same words over and over: ‘If I could just have Mum back for five minutes,…
Part of the legacy of having a parent who died young is undoubtedly the fear that it too could happen to you. And when you become a parent yourself that fear can be exacerbated a million times. Fear that you could leave your children behind to live through the heartbreaking grief that you experienced. I’m a pretty positive person in general, but any lump or significant pain elicits utter terror that a trip to the doctor could result in a…
The effects of grief can be dizzying. Ever tried explaining it and found yourself tripping over your words and emotions so much it feels like can’t get your point across, let alone the reason you feel so confused, crappy and exhausted by missing someone so much? I’m guessing, yes. So it really helps when someone who’s been through it sums it up in a sentence or two that totally makes sense! Some of the following are explanatory, reflective, and some…
British photographer Simon Bray, 31, created the Loved & Lost Project in 2013, inspired by the loss of his father four years earlier. Simon’s unique website offers people who have lost a loved one to choose a favorite photo of themselves with that person, and to go back to the location of the photograph and have Simon replicate the image. Old emotions are relived and new ones are discovered as Simon photographs participants in the same location, but this time…
ABC’s grief-inspired show A Million Little Things, which focuses on a close-knit group of friends dealing with the shock suicide of one of their own as well as the unfolding ramifications, is finally back on screens after the winter hiatus. Hot on the heels of the huge success of This Is Us, which focuses on the lives of siblings who lose their father in a tragic house fire, A Million Little Things is further proof that TV can reach inside…
Speaking to a friend recently who lost her mother many years ago, I found out she’d never heard of a poem that’s given me great comfort over the years: Death Is Nothing at All, by Henry Scott Holland. It was written over 100 years ago and is often read at funerals, and I’m posting it for my friend and anyone else it may help. Searching for the poem online, I found a number of versions that had only slightly been…
With the current focus on Halloween, it’s easy to forget that this week marks another annual tradition associated with the deceased. Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) may sound like a horror film but it’s quite the opposite. This fascinating annual tradition originated in Mexico and is all about remembering and honoring passed loved ones by celebrating their life with personalized altars and gravestones, and huge street parades. Despite its association with dressing up – parade participants wear…
Tonight on ABC, country music star Luke Bryan talks to Robin Roberts about overcoming the tragic deaths of his brother and sister, details his career rise, and tells how he and his wife now raise his sister’s three children. Years ago, about to move to Nashville to pursue his country music dreams when he was just 19 years old, Luke was thrown into turmoil when his brother was killed in a car accident. Shell-shocked, he was nevertheless convinced by his…
For anyone who has had their life touched by a nurse caring for a dying family member or friend, this truly heartwarming story and video will have special meaning. Nurse Olivia Neufelder met Margaret Smith at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville while Margaret awaited a kidney transplant after being diagnosed with cancer. The two women bonded and Olivia would regularly sing to Margaret in her final weeks, her close friend Crystal Hamilton Roberts told Fox 17 News. Margaret would often call her…