Creating conversations about loss

Grief

BY LEARNING TO LIVE STORYTELLERSFEBRUARY 28, 2021 07:00 AM The stage is empty. Typically, people would be gathering this month to hear a group of local individuals share stories from their lives at “The State of the Story: Learning to Live” event. For the past five years, the month of […]

Storytellers Reflect on Sharing Tales of Love, Loss and Transformation

2 Mar, 2021 in Belonging / Depression / Grief / Hope / Remembrance / Storytelling / Suffering / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin

BY RABBI DAVID E. OSTRICHJANUARY 24, 2021 07:00 AM There is a line in Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Ernest” that presents one of the most frustrating aspects of reality. The governess, Miss Prism, is talking about a three-volume novel she once wrote. Her student, Cecily, is delighted. “How […]

Making Sense of Bad Things Happening to Good People

26 Jan, 2021 in Grief / Hope / Storytelling / Suffering by LTLWYS Admin

BY EVELYN WALDDECEMBER 27, 2020 07:00 AM I love winter! When I proclaim that to others they often respond, “really? I despise winter!” They point out how cold and dark and dreary it is in winter. My love for winter goes back to my childhood. When snow would appear, I’d […]

How ‘Wintering’ Can Help You Reflect and Explore

29 Dec, 2020 in Grief / Remembrance / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin

BY CHRISTIAN BRADYNOVEMBER 22, 2020 08:00 AM Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt adapted from the book “Beautiful and Terrible Things: A Christian Struggle with Suffering, Grief, and Hope” by Christian Brady published in September. Visit ChristianBrady.com for more information. Hope is the very substance of the means of our […]

A Christian Struggle with Suffering, Grief and Hope

1 Dec, 2020 in Grief / Hope / Suffering by LTLWYS Admin

BY MARY CURRANSEPTEMBER 27, 2020 09:00 AM Let’s face it, no one looks forward to planning a funeral or memorial service. Three years ago after the death of my husband, I was faced with just that task. Even when death is expected, as his was following a steep decline after […]

Mourning in a Virtual World

29 Sep, 2020 in Grief / Remembrance / Storytelling by LTLWYS Admin

AUGUST 23, 2020 08:00 AM , UPDATED AUGUST 23, 2020 03:29 PM During these times of COVID-19 there are many losses students are facing. A graduate level class at Penn State shared some of theirs last month: Some personal losses I am experiencing are loss of personal contact, loss of […]

Their Own Losses, Their Own Words

27 Aug, 2020 in Belonging / Grief / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin

BY JEREMY FILKO May 24, 2020 My loss came in the blink of an eye and is at the very center of what makes me who I am. One day I was newly promoted at my firm, the next I was struggling to talk. I felt like a marionette, watching […]

Broken Memories Create Loss of Ties

28 May, 2020 in Grief / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin

By Jackie Naginey Hook, March 29, 2020 One day last week, my husband and I were out on our morning walk through the neighborhood. The air was crisp and the sky a vivid, cloudless blue. Each time we came upon a neighbor, we made sure to maintain the appropriate social […]

Learning to Live with Pandemic Losses by Moving

29 Mar, 2020 in Belonging / Grief / Storytelling by LTLWYS Admin

By Beth McLaughlin, February 23, 2020 Stories need to be told. Stories need to be heard. That’s exactly what happened Monday night, February 17th, when six local storytellers took to the stage in The Attic of The State Theatre. The stories were heartfelt and compelling. There was laughter. There were […]

The Story Behind ‘My Life: Re-Launched’

24 Feb, 2020 in Death and Dying / Grief / Storytelling by LTLWYS Admin

By Lauri Perman, January 26, 2020 When someone you love is slowly fading away, it creates a lot of anxiety. You feel you should “do” something and yet you can’t. Over a period of more than ten years, my husband Tom slowly faded away both cognitively and physically. For the […]

The Importance of Being Present to Someone Who’s Dying

26 Jan, 2020 in Death and Dying / Grief / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin