grief
Losing a family member is one of the most traumatic life events; Families must support one another to endure the five stages of grief and get through it together.
Traci
August 22, 2016, the day that would end up drastically changing my life. It was about 3:17 in the morning when the sounds of sirens from cop cars and ambulances were screaming in the parking lot of the apartment complex. My dad stood there frozen, unable to move or speak. He was in shock. He didn’t know what to do, or how to help, she was just laying there lifeless. Her body was positioned as if she was trying to crawl, pleading for someone to help her, but it was too late. She was already too far gone. The love of his life, and my stepmother, gone at merely twenty eight years old.
By jasmine torrenti6 years ago in Families
Poverty
I received a George Orwell book for Christmas, a slim volume entitled Why I Write (1946) and I read it in a day. I was intrigued by this social -middle class- democrat Orwell who was genuinely interested in and improving the life chances of the poor working class. I’d read Animal Farm (1945) and 1984 (1949) before I was fifteen or sixteen, and perhaps briefly joined the socialist party on the back of that, but I’d not read any of his other works. I immediately down loaded a gratis copy of Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) from the George-Orwell.org website and was blown away even from page one in chapter one by his novel-esque approach to autoethnography.
By Ian Peter Loftus6 years ago in Families
Gracious lessons
Have you ever felt the absence of graciousness? I know the feeling. Every January 7th, since 2005 I have felt the absence of the one person in the world who graciousness was a daily authentic lesson on how one should treat those that don’t even recognize the need for grace.
By Marcus R Holmes6 years ago in Families
I Wonder if You Know
A few days after my baby boy died, I had experienced so many emotions, had so many questions, and wanted desperately to be able to just talk to him. This was the first poem I had written in years, I just had to get some of the questions OUT!!! So, I put them on paper. I wondered if he could, in some way, see me. Did he know how much I missed him. There was never a thought as to if he knew I loved him. He knew!! I was looking for ways to cope with his eternal absence! I still have days that I wonder some of the same things.
By Jacqueline Murray6 years ago in Families
When a Parent Dies and “Then” You Thrive
Introduction I’ve been there. You must stay forward, as the option is not nearly as promising. Since I was a child, my parents were my biggest supporters. When I was in junior high school, my English teacher threatened to fail me. That “F” on my report card would not only have led to me repeating the 8th grade, but would have postponed my entry into high school by a year, forever marking me, I believed, as ‘the oldest freshman in the universe.’
By Joel Eisenberg6 years ago in Families
Still the Mother of Three
There are some things in this life that a mother should never have to experience, endure, or be forced to deal with. Here I sit, the first few hours of a new year, a new decade!! While it is an exciting time to look forward to, I can’t help but to look back and remember the sadness, the pain, the emptiness and devastation of having to plan a funeral for my son.
By Jacqueline Murray6 years ago in Families
