Creating conversations about loss

Storytelling

BY JACKIE NAGINEY HOOKJULY 30, 2023 6:00 AM I answered the phone and could tell this friend was unsettled. A relationship and job possibility had both ended for him. Grief had come for a visit, but I didn’t recognize it at first. As a spiritual director, celebrant and end-of-life doula […]

‘Helping’ someone who is grieving may look different

August 16, 2023 in Grief / Storytelling / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin

BY KEN BAXTERAPRIL 23, 2023 6:00 AM Hanna Arendt, one of my favorite philosophers, said, “We will lose everything, including our lives.” I would add everything and everyone, and in no particular order. In my younger days, I helped people navigate an ever-changing, and increasingly dangerous world. Teaching self-defense to […]

The ‘what-ifs’ are real, but we must live without fear

April 24, 2023 in Belonging / Death and Dying / Depression / Grief / Hope / Remembrance / Storytelling by LTLWYS Admin

BY AL VICERE MARCH 26, 2023 7:00 AM It’s March 30, 1981. My wife Nancy had gone into labor hours earlier that morning with our first child, our daughter Jana. Things progressed slowly. That was the start of a pattern. Jana always was late. The slow pace continued, so I […]

Ghostbusting and the power of living forth

April 24, 2023 in Death and Dying / Depression / Grief / Hope / Remembrance / Storytelling by LTLWYS Admin

BY JACKIE NAGINEY HOOKFEBRUARY 18, 2023 7:00 AM It was a cold, rainy night two weeks ago when ten people arrived at my house and began mingling around the snack table. After 30 minutes of small-talk we moved into our “relaxing room”— what most people call a living room. Some […]

Attend an evening of soul-fed storytelling in State College

February 22, 2023 in Grief / Hope / Storytelling by LTLWYS Admin

BY ALICIA ANDERSON JULY 31, 2022 6:00 AM The dress we ordered for my mom to wear to my daughter’s wedding in May 2020 still hangs in the spare bedroom at my house. It is a dusty blue that brought out the lovely blue of her eyes. The only other […]

Grama’s unworn dress stirs up memories, reflection

August 22, 2022 in Death and Dying / Grief / Remembrance / Storytelling by LTLWYS Admin

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

March 2, 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

January 26, 2021 in Grief / Hope / Storytelling / 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

September 29, 2020 in Grief / Remembrance / Storytelling 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

March 29, 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’

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