As I began my 20 minute drive to the Princeton Junction train station from my home in Pennington, NJ on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, I couldn’t help but notice the beautiful blue sky on what I thought would be just another busy Tuesday in my typical work week. It was a welcome change from my …
“𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒏𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏.” 𝑵𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝑳𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒏, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝑬𝒙𝒊𝒕 Job loss can often trigger a range of emotions …
“Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Matthew 24:42 My Cannonball Moment — Saturday Afternoon July 15, 2017 — Tightness in My Chest It seemed like any other hot July weekend at the Jersey Shore. It was 4pm and I had just finished cutting the lawn …
“𝘿𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙.” 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙚 “𝙄 𝙉𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙈𝙮 𝙁𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧”(𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟬) As a Bereavement Counselor and Grief Coach, I often witness how quotations from Scripture, selected prayers, beautiful music, clips from …
“𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒆’𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓. 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒏. 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎. 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒏. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒎𝒚 𝑶𝒍𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒏.” 𝑳𝒚𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 …
“She’s somebody’s mother, boys, you know. For all she’s aged and poor and slow. And I hope some fellow will lend a hand to help my mother, you understand. If ever she’s poor and old and gray, when her own dear boy is far away.” From the poem “Somebody’s Mother” by Mary Brine When I …
In my work as a Bereavement Counselor and Grief Educator, I will often incorporate relevant Scripture readings, prayers, selected works of poetry, lyrics from beautiful music, provide opportunities for each person in our group to have their grief witnessed and validated, and I even use film clips that can help elicit the wide range of emotions …
Last night we concluded another 6-session cycle of our Bereavement Program at St. Catharine-St. Margaret Parish in Spring Lake, NJ to help those who are navigating that difficult journey of grieving the loss of a loved one. I am continually blessed by the inner strength, resilience, and courage that people in grief bring to this …
“Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels. Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields. ’65, I was 17 and running up 101. I don’t know where I’m running now, I’m just running on. Running on, running on empty. Running on, running blind. Running on, running into the sun …
“𝙂𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛’𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩. 𝘽𝙮 𝙨𝙬𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚’𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙨, 𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩.”
𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙚𝙢, “𝙂𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙄𝙨 𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝘼 𝙍𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧” 𝙗𝙮 𝘾𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙖 𝙂. 𝙆𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮
This article takes a closer look at an issue that often surfaces in grief ministry when a person we love dies alone in those final moments of life without the presence of family and close friends, an experience that became more pronounced for many families grieving a loss during the height of the global pandemic. I also share my own story of losing my brother Dennis who died suddenly at the age of 19 and the healing, closure, and meaning I recently experienced by having the courage to finally visit that sacred ground where God called him home. #griefsupport #bereavementsupport #spiritualcoaching #lifecoaching
