Grief

This indoor image shows an older woman with short, curly, redish brown hair and dark rimmed glassed. hes got her fingers pressed against the sides of her forehead and is looking down, forehead creased, and sad. her clothing is dark but she's wearing a turqouoise necklace and a small bracelet on each bare arm.

Making It Through Holidays with Grief and Loss in Our Hearts

Dear Carol: I’m a new widow dreading all the Christmas hoopla and yearly optimism of a New Year. Planning Christmas presents for my grandkids...

This indoor image shows a closeup of a woman with long brown hair holding her hands over her face. She's wearing red nail polish, wedding rings, and a black modern watch along with a rust colored sweater or wrap visible on her shoulders. She appears to be crying or at least frustrated.

Common Caregiver Thoughts We Aren’t Proud Of

Wouldn’t it be nice to be a family caregiver who never gets frustrated and is an eternal optimist? Maybe there are some like that...

Having ‘The Talk’: How to Discuss End-of-Life Issues with Parents

Sex and death: It’s odd that these two topics of conversation should bring so much anxiety to parents and children. One addresses the beginning...

This black and white image shows a close view of a woman with downturned head, hands covering her face in grief. She has dark hair and Hispanic looks.

How to Communicate with Someone Who Can No Longer Speak

Years ago, I stumbled upon a video that remains vivid in my mind. In it, an elderly couple who had spent a lifetime devoted...

Image is black and white. It shows a close up view of an older woman with curly white hair looking down. She's wiping tears from her eyes with a handkerchief by lowering her glasses. She wears a dark sweater. The impression is one of deep grief.

Minimizing Grief for a Surviving Spouse with Dementia

Deciding whether to tell someone who is cognitively impaired that their spouse has died is a serious and often recurring struggle. Dementia and death...

A man or woman with a short mop of curly auburn hair, mostly covers their face with their hands. The viewer can see tears on the check and one eye that can be seen. They are wearing a black turtlenecked, long-sleeved sweater.

Is It Normal to Grieve long Before Someone Dies?

Nearly everyone involved in caring for an ill or aging loved one is experiencing some degree of grief. However, we don’t usually identify the...

An older man sitts on the left, looking at a younger woman who is smiling at him as if explaining something. The man has gray hair and is wearing a beige shirt. The woman has long brown hair tied in a low ponytail. She's wearing blue scrubs and has a stethoscope around her neck.

Hospice Care: Help During End Stages of Life

One day while I was working at my newspaper job, the phone rang. It was the head nurse at Dad’s nursing home. “Carol, we...

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Music-Thanatology: Providing Harmony at the End of Life

The mission of hospice providers is to help people live their last months or weeks of life in the most comfortable, dignified and satisfying...

The image shows and older coupld against a white background. They are gazing at each other lovingly with hands, held up near their faces, touching as the man clasps the woman's hand. The man is bald with a gray mustache and is wearing a white undershirt topped by a dark blue V-neck. The woman is wearing a beige blouse or sweater.

Why So Many Long-Married Couples Die Close Together

While death rarely brings pleasant feelings, from time to time we’ll see a story about death go viral on the Internet because it touches...

Middle-aged woman lies back abainst white covered pillows. The's got short dark hair and large, dark-rimmed glasses and is wearing a dark pull-over sweater. Her hand it held up by her forehead and her expression is one of misery.

How to Engage in Self-Care While Grieving

Many caregivers watch their loved ones endure a long, slow decline that will eventually end in death. As they age, we grieve every mental...