Recent Articles
02/17/2017
I attended a funeral in which a son of the deceased said: “My four-year-old son asked me, ‘Why did God make Grandpa Bob die?’ I told him, ‘God wanted someone to play basketball with.’” I cringed when I heard this father’s explanation. I could just imagine what the little 4-year-old thought: “Oh, but I wanted […]
02/09/2017
“What characteristics of your wife do you miss the most?” That was the question I asked Bob whose wife of 47 years had died thirteen months earlier. Immediately he said, “Ruth had the gift of hospitality. So our dining room table was often filled with friends and family, with laughter, stories and good food. Now […]
06/12/2016
Father’s Day can prove challenging for anyone mourning the loss of his or her dad, even many years after he died. So, here is one idea for how you can honor your deceased father and keep his memory alive on Father’s Day or any of the other 364 days in the year: You can plant […]
12/05/2014
By Sarah Gill-Northcutt It had been a year since my 18 month-old granddaughter Katie died of a birth defect, and I could still feel the grief. “Maybe putting up Christmas decorations will make you feel better,” my husband said, handing me the box where we kept the ornament. “Christmas won’t be the same without Katie,” I […]
12/21/2014
When there is a death in a family, Christmas can be so painful because everyone else seems so happy. One mother told me, “Watching their joy is bad enough, but the real pain is when our child’s name is not even mentioned; when no one recalls Christmases past, when my son was there with them, […]
08/18/2015
The fact that you are asking the question is so wonderful. The people who are grieving will be so pleased and touched in their hearts that someone else remembers their ongoing grief and the one who has died.
Now, back to your question: What should one say on the anniversary date of a loved one’s death?
11/14/2016
I became very agitated as I stood in line at a funeral home visitation. I could not believe it! The person at the front of the line occupied the bereaved woman’s attention for 30 minutes—or maybe it was only 5 minutes, but it seemed like 30! The man must have told her all his life’s […]
