I’ve wanted to go on the Vets Roll trip for a long time. The last two years I’ve qualified for the trip by being on active service in 1963 or earlier. I was accepted and planned on finally going this May. However I did have a problem; Kitty, my wife of 50 years, was in ill health …
On June 2, 1969, 49 years ago today, my mother who was 59 years old died on the way to the hospital after being in a car accident. I was at work when one of my sisters called me to tell me what had happened. I was in shock. I remember going back to work the day after the funeral. I was a mess emotionally but I believed that if I expressed my grief that no one would want to be around me. Being alone with my grief was scary and I didn’t know how to process it …
I’ve come to learn through my exploration of life, that there is a duality of life and death and the experiences in between. I’ve learned to look at both sides of an experience so that I can embrace the journey and find value in both the time together and the value of a recognized grief and loss …
The recent death of a friend has moved me to reconsider my thoughts, feelings, and beliefs on loss, death, and grief. So far, I haven’t seen myself as being good at grieving. I wasn’t taught, in direct or obvious ways, what to do with losses in life – how to mourn, how to adeptly move through life beyond grief …
How often do we build ourselves up for the big dream, get caught up in our own hype without even realizing it? And then have our dreams dashed with disappointment and a sense of failure …
Author: Pam Luedtke My father has Alzheimer’s disease and was moved into a specialized “memory care” facility about 18 months ago. All things considered, he is doing well there, is well cared for, and appears to feel relaxed and safe. He is quite confused however, and lives in a very small window of awareness. He …