Recent Articles
08/20/2020
When I attended Western Theological Seminary, I was befriended by a man named Stan, one of my professors. As the years went by, Stan and his wife Nancy became friends. A year ago, Stan died after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. Shortly after the anniversary of Stan’s death, I saw Nancy. Her face was radiant […]
05/05/2020
A few months after Jennifer’s dad died, her mother mentioned a very sad observation: nobody would mention his name in her mother’s presence. “I guess they don’t want to upset me” Jennifer’s mother said. “But I want people to talk about your dad. He was a wonderful man and I enjoy hearing people’s fond memories […]
04/30/2020
My friend Carole died on Good Friday during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of social distancing requirements, I was not allowed to visit with her husband in person. We could not hug and share stories about Carole, which is what I would normally do for someone. So, I turned to “distance caregiving” for Carole’s grieving husband. […]
03/03/2020
Losing a parent at any age is difficult, but it’s especially hard on children. It’s estimated that as many as 1.5 million children will lose one or both of their parents by the age of 15. And two of the most difficult days of the year for grieving kids are Mother’s and Father’s Day – […]
04/14/2020
Editor’s note. The following essay is an edited transcript of a spoken testimonial Pastor Gordon Wiersma gave to the Hope Church congregation as part of the church’s Reconciliation series. It is reprinted with permission. My Dad, Jack Wiersma, died in 2017. My Dad died after 81 years of life – after several years of health […]
04/20/2020
Guest Post by Susan VandePol Their visits didn’t look at all like what I would have thought they should look like — if I had any time to think about it. “They” are the ones who came, the ones who showed up to care for us. And none of them really knew what to do. […]
03/03/2020
Note from Karen: At Wisdom of the Wounded, we know that children grieve differently than adults. That’s why we’re very fortunate that organizations like Ele’s Place offer programs for grieving children and their supporters. On a recent tour of Ele’s Place-West Michigan, we learned about their Memory Pillow activity. What a wonderful way to help […]
