Being the co-host of two funerals tops the list of my life’s stranger experiences. I dreaded both my sister’s and father’s services, wishing I could choose not to go. But like (so) many things in life, the anticipation was much more intense than the experience. I ultimately found the events to be soothing, empowering*, and...

When it comes to couples and immediate families, there’s usually one person who gets designated the role “Public Representative for All Correspondence with Relatives, Friends, and Whatnot”. This public rep is on point for wedding RSVPs and sending thank you cards, and on the whole, this arrangement works out ok...

When I visualize my grief underbelly it’s on the set of a film noir —preferably with a light mist or drizzle. Photo Credit: Movie Still from Third Man There is a grief underbelly: a dark and damp place swirling with thoughts that many grievers have but are too ashamed to...

In 2011 I had my first experience with death. Well — Facebook death. A former classmate of mine had died in the early morning hours in a motorcycle accident. At the time I was in New Hampshire with my husband and father-in-law. It was just less than a month after mother-in-law’s death and...

On Wednesday, January 31, we had to euthanize our dog Abe.  The date lies exactly six days after the anniversary of my husband's mother's death (1/25), and six days before the anniversary of my father's death (2/6). The winter metaphor is not figurative in our house. I took this photo the...

Members of my grief group began talking about the holidays in October. Though I was new to the group, I had actually already made plans for my family in September, just a few weeks after my sister died. I recently mentioned how the podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking was my saving grace during the...

If we love, we will grieve. What a sad proclamation for love. An obvious truth that many of us deliberately ignore to prevent sudden onset panic attacks. All of our relationships will end, and for many of us, we will grieve those losses. So if we all love - and we all...

My dad was very sick in the summer of 2003 - he was waiting for a kidney and pancreas transplant and was not healthy enough for the surgery. He had a serious hospitalization in November and never recovered. He died in February of 2004 when I was 20 years old....

The Case for Practical Gifting It's really hard to understand what living with grief is like until you have to live with grief. It's equally hard to know what it's like to get a life-threatening diagnosis, to have a miscarriage, or to be laid off until those events happen to...