A Huffington Post article posted today discussed the idea of grief being medically classified as a mental illness, treatable with medications much the way depression is handled by the medical community. The article was based on an article that was published in The New York Times on Jan 25th. While...
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Grief as Mental Illness
Grief Kid Syndrome? Maybe Not
As we bump down the messy path of childhood to teen-dom, I have often found myself explaining away unexplainable kid behavior as being related to the trauma of their childhoods, the lack of a dad, their grief. Irrational eruptions over homework are explained as unexpressed grief from their tumultuous...
...continue reading1000 Mitzvahs
I went to a reading on Sunday at Elliot Bay Books in Seattle (great independent bookstore) for a book called 1000 Mitzvahs. Linda Cohen began writing by blogging about her daily random acts of kindness – Mitzvahs – a mission she set about completing as a way of overcoming...
...continue readingInterment pas des deux
Carter playing taps at the interment of R. E. Smallwood, July 14th, 2011 We’re in Montreal today, having just interred my grandfather into the most beautiful cemetery at the top of Mont Royal. Carter played taps beautifully as the ashes were lowered into the ground. It was a hard swallow moment....
...continue readingIn Memoriam
Me sitting with my Grampa after his ski accident, circa 1968 “I’m off to buy some fil-um!” He would smile slightly as he said it. “Grampa! It’s “film,” not “fil-um!” “That’s what I said. Fil-um.” We were never sure if he really didn’t hear the difference, or if he just did it because...
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Richard's Rwanda girls meet FAWE girls Yesterday was the 17th anniversary of the beginning of the Genocide in Rwanda. Olivia has been involved in Richard’s Rwanda IMPUHWE since she was 11 years old and last summer visited Rwanda to meet the girls that they have been helping, an incredibly powerful...
...continue reading“Grief” Kids
I found myself writing a comment on the blog of a another widowed blogger about kid anxiety and thought I would share what tiny morsels of wisdom I have gleaned over the years: The anxiety thing in “grief” kids is so hard. And so common. Both my kids have struggled...
...continue readingPerpetuating Loss Redux
My last post generated quite a lively discussion and so I thought I would try and hone in on some of the issues it raised. In particular, Shafeen’s comment: Perception is an interesting and complex thing – it is generally created with a few “sticky” labels – and once...
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I’m trying not to dwell on the fact that a 9-year old girl, born on 9/11/01 was shot down in cold blood this weekend. I hadn’t, until now ever thought of babies born on 9/11/01, moments of happiness on such a mournful day. I know I’m not the only...
...continue readingIs Grief An Addiction?
For my latest book project I have been reading a book called Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love by Helen Fisher. I have been working on the theory that grief recovery is not very far off from addiction recovery. I know this sounds far fetched,...
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Learning to live again after the sudden death of my husband Arron on 9/11. I live with my two children, Carter, 11 and Olivia 15. I have written my book, The Alchemy of Loss, as a testament to finding the silver lining of grief
