i just received an invitation to attend the 2011 donor appreciation ceremony here in Nevada for those who lost someone and donated their organs to others. here's what bugs me. i am hoping the recipient(s) of my daughters eyes won't be there. i am crying like her death was yesterday just getting the invitation. how am i going to be if i meet them/him/her? we submit a picture-m going to send the one you guys see as my profile picture- also can send a piece of material decorated for her for…

I have been living away from my family for seventeen years as of this month. I had wanted to leave my home state of Illinois since I was thirteen and finally managed it (thanks to graduate school) in 1994 when I moved to New Mexico. I missed weddings and baptisms. While funerals were arranged based on when I could make it into town, it didn’t occur to me in my twenties, or in my thirties (as I exit them in just a few short months), that being so far away could be a detriment to…

9-28-01

There are times that I look at you and I wonder if you were brought here for a greater purpose. Yeah, you might be saying “Okay, Dad’s lost his mind.” Well, it’s just a feeling. Mostly it’s just that I can’t get over how you were so brave for a six year old boy, during the course of September 11th. The experience left me with the feeling and vision of you becoming a police officer to replace me. I don’t want you to do that. I would rather you find your own path in this world.…

Monday, November 30,  1998

Rookie Cops Deliver Baby In Cruiser

(Philadelphia)--Two rookie police officers with less than a year on the force got  the surprise of their young careers Sunday morning when they delivered a baby girl in the back seat of their cruiser.

Geraldine Brooks of southwest Philadelphia gave birth to a premature baby girl at about 9:30 a.m., next to police officer Martin Connors who used her…

3/11/96

Sometimes I just wish you to think of this journal as an open letter to you.  One day you'll be a man, making your own choices in life, maybe falling in love, having children - what ever the future holds for you.  You will learn in religion class that man has free will to choose to do good or bad.  I believe that it also extends to be what you want.  I have my hopes of what you'll become, but I have some say in who…

When Tim was born, I began to write a journal of his life.  As life continued, the written word was exchanged for photographs.  I recently was able to pull it off a damaged disk.  Tim, this is the beginning of your life.  I love you.

7/26/95

Timothy, your journal begins now. I just want you to know your life from the beginning. You were born today, July 26, 1995 at 8:01 PM, weighing 7 pounds 13 ounces, and twenty-one inches long. It's the middle of a…

I stumbled upon this website tonight because I could not sleep. I have nights like these every once and a while. But when they do come about, they are so difficult. I was always a home body. A family oriented italian girl. I loved smelling my mother's cooking from the street when I played with the neighborhood kids on a Sunday night. The sound of my dad playing the piano on my birthday was never a tradition I could imagine living without. Never did I expect that one day, my family would be…

People often visit gravesites to commune with whatever piece of their soul might hover in that environment. I have a friend who takes the Easter lilies I give her each year to her husband’s grave, and another who devoted herself to restoring an overgrown, neglected burial ground in South Carolina. There is a woman in New York who advertises her services ($25-35) to visit nearby gravesites…

I just lost my best friend who was like a little sister to me. Her name is Rosalind. I had talked with her on August 11, 2011 and we ended our conversation with "I will talk to you tomorrow."  The next day she passed away while serving in the kitchen at her church.  My little sister loved the Lord and she was so happy doing the work of hospitality for the church.  She loved God, her church, pastor and wife and people. We always talked about the goodness of God and she knew that she had Favor…

Hi Hun

Today is Aug 16 2011 and Papa should be showing up there anytime:0) Brett he loved you so very much. He was tired and wanted to see you and Grandma. Bear Hug him and tell him I love him and I will miss his daily calls. Just as I lit a candle for you each day I talked with him. Now I shall light 2. I love you my Beautiful Boy.

xoxoxo…

While I believe there is a synchronicity to everything that happens, I realize that most of the time we don’t understand it while we’re standing in the thick of it. Such was the case when I met Cheryl, a fellow survivor who lost both her husband and son to suicide, who came to me with a proposal to help her create a comprehensive website on suicide and mental illness.

What I didn’t realize at the time,…

Q. I’ve been told not to attend my aunt’s funeral, due to a longstanding feud with my side of the family. I had nothing to do with it, and my aunt was always very kind to me. I’m very upset that I can’t say goodbye to her at the funeral home. Should I attend anyway and just sit in the back? Can they keep me out?

A. A funeral is a way to honor the deceased and grieve in the company of family members and friends. It’s a healing experience and an…

A riddle: Everyone has one. It has taken your entire life to create. Yet you don’t always use it when you most need it. What is it? Your spiritual toolbox. 



What is a spiritual toolbox? It is a set of activities that you use to bring comfort and motivation. For some people, reading a book or exercising always lifts their spirits. For others going shopping or chopping wood…

Grief is a very painful and personal experience. When I recently asked bereaved adults to share their thoughts on what helped and what hurt following the death of their loved ones, I got different viewpoints. It’s apparent that we each grieve in our own way and in our own time. And yet there were a number of things that most of the bereaved agreed on; certain questions upset them and there are other questions they wish you’d ask.

So what question did the bereaved find most…

Here are some online resources from a suicide postvention conference I attended in June that they have just posted and made available to anybody online.  Some of the recommended reading looked like good material.  I'm going to check on a few myself at my local library.

Conference PowerPoints and other resources:…