Talking to Children About Death: Healing and Conversation June 23, 2014 • 2 Comments Last week I had the opportunity to share my story with a wonderful group of people who graciously allowed me to unfurl before them. I really enjoy this kind of interaction with small groups. Answering questions forces me to dig deeper into what I have learned and how it might apply to the others dealing with loss. It is very…
Conversation: A Sacred Vessel of Healing Exploration May 26, 2014 • 0 Comments I continue to cross paths with people who have been touched by suicide and the common denominator in all these encounters seems to be the unfortunate feeling of isolation, because no one in the family talks about it. The event is relegated to the “unmentionable topics” closet that all families, and cultures, seem to have, and left to fester in…
Suicide Chat: Making the Topic of Suicide Less Taboo May 2, 2014 • 0 Comments “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because…
The Immeasurability of the Healing Process April 28, 2014 • 0 Comments We are a nation of measurers aren’t we? Everywhere you look there is someone with a yardstick stretched out over our lives to make sure we are keeping up: school GPAs, test scores, top 100 lists, body mass index, IQs and happy lifestyle percentiles, and even a stress scale to keep track of…stress. Just for kicks, I added up my…
Suicide Resources: Section 504 Support for Children April 8, 2014 • 0 Comments If you are navigating the aftermath of a parent suicide and have school age children, I strongly recommend pursuing Section 504 accommodations as a safety net for them. Simply put, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act guarantees certain rights to people with disabilities and applies to any agency receiving federal funds, such as a school. A child dealing with the…
Share Your Story and Connect to the Healing Bandwidth April 7, 2014 • 4 Comments I spent the last week in New York City, and having not been there in over twenty years, was happily overwhelmed by the noise, hustle and bustle. It is so vibrant — a welcome contrast to sleepy San Diego, and the street art is amazing as well. I could spend hours walking and adrift in the flow of people who…
Life After Suicide: Reflections on Healing & the Suicide Epidemic March 21, 2014 • 2 Comments The news has been full of rather grim stories lately. Although I’m not one to watch much television, I got hooked a couple weeks ago trying to learn a bit more about Oscar Pistorius. After a week of obsessing over the mysterious disappearance of the Malaysian jet, my thoughts have turned to the family of L’Wren Scott. I have to…
Emotional Wounds: The Secret to Your Why March 3, 2014 • 2 Comments It is no secret that my kids are the inspiration behind what I do. They are my why. It has been this way since becoming a mother, but when our lives changed that fateful day in 2010, my why shifted to another kind of why, much bigger, and more definitive. This deeply passionate and devoted why was ignited by a man…
Parent Suicide Resources: When Children Grieve February 12, 2014 • 5 Comments In the aftermath of my husband’s death, I pursued every resource I could find to aid in my children’s recovery. They were not particularly fond of their brief foray into therapy because they found talking to a stranger about such an intimate experience “weird.” One of them attended a Survivors of Suicide support group but had a hard time finding…
Healing After Loss: Birthdays, Vulnerability and Blessed Connections October 16, 2013 • 0 Comments This past weekend I had the good fortune to attend the 50th birthday party of a dear friend. She is a rare gem, one of those unique humans who naturally finds the good in people and nurtures friendships with attentive love and care. I had fallen out of orbit the last few years, so it was incredibly healing to reel…