Creating conversations about loss

Grief

BY ELIZABETH AND CHRISTIAN BRADYJANUARY 16, 2022 6:00 AM My back was sore as I scrambled off the floor and the pile of wrapped presents to slide onto the couch and pick up my glass of port. I stretched and observed to Elizabeth that it has been a really challenging […]

9 years after Mack Brady’s death, grief changes, celebration of ...

January 18, 2022 in Belonging / Death and Dying / Grief / Hope / Remembrance by LTLWYS Admin

BY MARY CURRAN DECEMBER 26, 2021 5:00 AM Here we are celebrating our second holiday season in the midst of a pandemic and all I can think about is what life was like before we worried about masking, vaccines and hand sanitizer. Travel back in time to Christmas 2019. Ask […]

This holiday season, think of time like a river

January 12, 2022 in Grief / Remembrance by LTLWYS Admin

BY EVELYN WALDNOVEMBER 28, 2021 7:00 AM I remember watching a show hosted by Art Linkletter (my age is showing!) called “Kids Say the Darndest Things.” He would ask questions and in their open, innocent way, children would respond. Their responses brought laughter and sometimes tears. For more than 17 […]

What Children Teach Us About Grief, and What They Need ...

December 8, 2021 in Death and Dying / Grief / Hope / Remembrance by LTLWYS Admin

BY BETH MCLAUGHLIN OCTOBER 24, 2021 5:00 AM After Dave, my husband, died unexpectedly in late 2015, I began to frantically look all over the house for the watch I had given him on our wedding day. It was nowhere to be found. I became fixated on its whereabouts even […]

Confronting Time’s Impact on Memories

October 24, 2021 in Grief / Remembrance by LTLWYS Admin

BY LAURI PERMAN SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 6:00 AM “How long does grief last?,” a recent widow asked, struggling with the pain of her loss. In response I shared this story. I was 15, sitting cross-legged on the floor near my grandfather in his heavy wooden rocker, when I learned he […]

How Long Does Grief Last?

September 27, 2021 in Death and Dying / Grief / Hope / Remembrance by LTLWYS Admin

BY ZACHARY MASERAUGUST 22, 2021 07:00 AM Nature doesn’t refuse itself, not like human nature does, anyway. For example, the tree does not pretend to be anything but a tree, and it does not refuse being the tree that it is. It graciously accepts the storm no matter the loss […]

Finding the ‘Joy in the Mourning’

August 25, 2021 in Death and Dying / Grief / Hope / Remembrance / Uncategorized by LTLWYS Admin

BY MARY BOUTSELISJULY 04, 2021 07:00 AM My mother was a sturdy soul. She was of German descent, born and raised in a farming community in Michigan. Her motto was, “If anyone is still working, you don’t sit down.” When she came to visit us later in her life, she […]

Long Journey Presented New Opportunity to Meet Change and Loss

August 25, 2021 in Death and Dying / Grief / Hope / Suffering by LTLWYS Admin

BY RHONDA STERNMAY 23, 2021 07:00 AM Experiencing a loss can leave us feeling lost — fragmented until we find ways to recreate our lives and to feel whole again. Creating through the arts can help us to find a source of energy within ourselves to help us be present […]

Learning to Live: How Creating Through the Arts Can Help ...

June 25, 2021 in Death and Dying / Grief / Hope by LTLWYS Admin

BY THE REV. CAROL THOMAS CISSELMAY 02, 2021 07:00 AM Tuesday, April 13 was an important anniversary. It marked one year and one month since my congregation, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County (UUFCC) “left the building.” On March 13, 2020, my board of trustees, acting with strength, an […]

Learning to Live: After a Year of Change, Pandemic Continues ...

June 25, 2021 in Death and Dying / Grief / Hope / Remembrance by LTLWYS Admin

BY REV. DEAN LINDSEYMARCH 28, 2021 07:00 AM I thought I should tell my story. It was so early in the pandemic, and I was in the unenviable position of being the second confirmed case of COVID-19 in Centre County. I’d been in New Orleans for a visit right when […]

‘I was there.’ Reflections from One of Centre County’s First ...

April 26, 2021 in Grief / Hope / Suffering by LTLWYS Admin