Was ever grief like mine? George HerbertHeartfelt Letters
A Sacred Trust
I first started adding grief
pages to my author web site in 2006 after the death of my mother. Since then I have received many heartfelt and poignant E-mails
from fellow grievers. I try to answer every one. Topics often come up that are not covered in the main body of this web site.
I include them here in Letters from the Heart.
Self magazine reports that about 2.5 million people die
in this country every year, leaving behind an average of five loved ones. That's a lot of souls in pain. Grief is not a straight
and narrow path. Some of us gradually move forward with our lives on our own; others benefit from a support group and/or spiritual
guidance--and lots of us find comfort in an online community.
I am humbled that visitors to my site have trusted me with their inner most thoughts and feelings. I will honor
that sacred trust. Because grief makes us fragile and vulnerable, I am not sharing actual letters that grievers have sent
me over the years. The notes are too private. Instead, I am posting a brief summary of personal circumstances and my response.
All the grievers' names have been changed to protect their privacy.
You will also find responses from Marty Tousley, a certified bereavement counselor. I forward some E-mails to her when I believe that the response calls for something outside
the scope of personal caring. I will add more letters over time, so please visit again.
For a different
perspective on grief, read The Truth About Grief: The Myth of Its Five Stages and the New Science of Loss by Ruth Davis Konigsberg. She writes on page 16, "Our grief culture
maintains that grief is unique, then offers a uniform set of instructions [on how to grieve]." From the back cover: "With
this book, I hope to offer you a means of escape from our habitual ways of thinking about grief."
Konigsberg's work is thought provoking and well researched. Click A Change of Heart for my review of the book.
Go to next page: Prolonged Grief / Sudden Death
There is no way out, only a way forward. Micheal Hollings
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