Grappling with Grief

Finding Normal: Jeff Huxford

by Jeff Huxford   I had an amazing wife, two incredible children, and was a successful small-town family doctor. It was the proverbial American Dream. But on May 3rd, 2012, my life — and that dream — was forever changed. I was driving home from the local hardware store on that day when I was […]

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Grief Reminds Us, Love Never Dies

by Karla J. Noland   It’s been two years since my mother passed away unexpectedly from Primary Central Nervous System (CNS) melanoma. However, as I write this, my mind and body can seamlessly transport me back to the emotions of that day. I can retell and see the images as if I am rewinding back […]

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I Have Been Irrevocably Changed

by Jessica Trobaugh   I have been irrevocably changed. In a time where all can comprehend the literal screeching halt of the earth beneath our feet, I am but one of many. Grief has become a part of societal DNA. Weaving its way under swings and through leaves. It’s on our tv, magazine, and the […]

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Writing Our Own Grief Stories

by Janet Gwilliam-Wright   My mom died the day I graduated from high school. The week before, in June 1995, my mom, who had been dying from liver cancer, was rushed to palliative care in an ambulance. She was so weak when she went into the hospital the paramedics had to carry her out of […]

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Grief Through the Matrix of Yoga

by Emma Conally-Barklem   Bereavement is a messy business. It chews us up, hollows us out and folds us in two. For me, the death of my mum and best friend continues to be the most painful experience of my life. My mum was vivacious, funny, sensitive, temperamental and kind. Her energy would wear me […]

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The Unraveling of Grief & Loss: Mekel Harris

by Mekel Harris   Grief has a way of unraveling you. Thread by thread. Painful moment by painful moment. December 2012 thrust me into uncharted territory — the dark and messy wilderness of grief. On the ninth day of the month, my spunky and outspoken mother died after receiving a diagnosis of stage IV pancreatic […]

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Grief and Joy Can Co-Exist

by Katrina Preisler-Weller   For a long time, I believed that to live was to forget. 12 years on, I now know that couldn’t be further from the truth. During our childhood and adolescents, we are taught many things: algebra, the science of gravity and even how to put a condom on a banana… yet […]

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Healthy Healing: Michelle Steinke-Baumgard

by Michelle Steinke-Baumgard   We all have days that define our lives in deeply profound days. For me, there have been just a handful of those days. Like when I graduated with honors from college after struggling with dyslexia and ADHD, the day my children were born, the day I married their father. And of […]

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Six Years in Heaven: Lisa Boehm

by Lisa Boehm   As the day begins on the anniversary of my daughter’s passing, the events of ‘that day’ weigh heavy on my heart. I remember the day starting like any other. My kids went off to high school, and my husband and I went to work. We ate dinner together, talked about the […]

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Hope in Hospice: Allison Henry

by Allison Henry   When my dad was dying, I had a hard time remembering what life was like before he got sick. Things that happened a year ago seemed like they happened decades ago. The world as I knew it had changed.  I couldn’t imagine how I would be able to go on after […]

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