Creating conversations about loss

Transitions

BY JACKIE NAGINEY HOOKJUNE 23, 2024 7:00 AM When we started this initiative back in 2015, I liked what we chose to name it — “Learning to Live: What’s Your Story?” What I didn’t know then was how I would grow to appreciate that choice, and also appreciate applying those […]

Meeting the needs of mourning

July 5, 2024 in Death and Dying / Grief / Hope / Remembrance / Storytelling / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin

BY F. GLENN FLEMINGJANUARY 28, 2024 6:00 AM Ten years ago, on Feb. 1, 2014, my wife Margie died. We were married for 50 years and eight months, and I still think of her every day. I always have a picture of her in my head and like remembering all […]

Grief as a funeral director, and the difference between empathy ...

February 19, 2024 in Death and Dying / Grief / Hope / Remembrance / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin

BY JACKIE NAGINEY HOOKDECEMBER 24, 2023 7:00 AM It was Christmas Eve 1993 and my husband, John, and I were spending the holidays at my parent’s house in Austin, Texas. I was doing my daily meditation when these words came into my mind: “Love. Help. Hope. You will have babies.” […]

How to change anxious waiting into expectant waiting

January 3, 2024 in Grief / Hope / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin

BY BETH MCLAUGHLIN OCTOBER 22, 2023 When I was 35, I took a solo trip to Vermont. I spent a few days at a mountain top inn and rode horses every day. Up near Stowe, I hiked to Sterling Pond. Beside those still waters, I sat quietly. All alone, I […]

The power of ‘more’

December 3, 2023 in Death and Dying / Grief / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin

BY CHRIS CALKINSSEPTEMBER 24, 2023 6:00 AM For many years, my work as a health care administrator and teacher have intersected in meaningful ways. I have had the unique honor of being present at the end of life with several individuals, and stood with families in the moments before and […]

Practicing empathy prepares us for the inevitabilities of life

September 25, 2023 in Death and Dying / Grief / Hope / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin

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 LAURI PERMANMAY 28, 2023 6:00 AM When my teenage sister died in a car accident, friends and neighbors blessed our family with oodles of food. The large dining room table, used only on holidays, was covered with food, enough to serve all the out-of-town family members who crowded in […]

Dementia brings ‘unofficial loss’ and often leads to grieving alone

June 14, 2023 in Belonging / Grief / Suffering / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin

BY BETH MCLAUGHLIN DECEMBER 25, 2022 8:00 AM I watch as my mother inches forward in her recliner as she readies herself to stand. She pauses and looks at me, “Beth Ann, do me one favor before I die, would you?” “Of course, Mom, what is it?” She wags her […]

The shape of me

January 4, 2023 in Belonging / Grief / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin

BY EVELYN WALDOCTOBER 23, 2022 7:00 AM I remember as a child the anxiety I often felt when it was time to play sports. Two children were chosen as captains and picked their teams one person at a time. In the end, there would be a few of us remaining, […]

Embracing all of who we are can bring hope, healing, ...

October 23, 2022 in Belonging / Grief / Hope / Transitions by LTLWYS Admin

BY KIMBERLY MCGINNIS JUNE 26, 2022 6:00 AM It has been said that grief is love. If so, I have been loving and grieving for a long time — eight years of love, grief and loss. My mother died on Jan. 2 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She […]

Loving and grieving through a mother’s journey with Alzheimer’s disease

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