March 13 2017

By: Jackie Hook
Monday, March 13, 2017

One topic of conversation at our grief education and support group meetings is how to begin to let go. During one meeting, I invite participants to write a letter to their lost loved one. At a future meeting, participants read their letters aloud, or allow others to read the letters for them if it is too difficult.

I am continually amazed by this experience. Time after time I hear expressions of deep love and letting go, both requiring tremendous courage. I think of parents who experienced pregnancy and early infant loss and who sign the letter Mom and Dad – a name they claim for the first time. In this name, they are loving and letting go all at once. I think of widows and widowers beginning to accept what is. Group participants tell me this activity is one of the most difficult we undertake, and also one of the most healing.

Leave a comment
Name*:
Email:
Comment*:

Comments

Please wait

Previous Posts

March 27 2023

To close this month’s theme of “Grief is Loss in Pieces,” I’ll share these words by author Nick Cave: I have learned that things get better, in time. I know that fundamentally.... I also know th...

March 20 2023

Another way to interpret our theme, “Grief is Loss in Pieces,” is to think of how grief can break us into many pieces. Our work in grief is putting those pieces back together. There is a wonderful ...

March 13 2023

As I continue to think about our theme of “Grief is Loss in Pieces,” I’m reminded of the many stories people have shared with me about their grief journeys. Some talk about how at first they were n...

March 6 2023

This month our theme is “Grief is Loss in Pieces.” Many of you have heard of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These “stages” were neve...

February 27 2023

I close this month’s discussion of “Ask Your Heart/Quiet Your Thoughts” with this quote by teacher and author Spring Washam:  Listen to your heart and trust the direction you are being pulled...

February 20 2023

In order to ask your hearts and quiet your thoughts, here are a few more things you can do: Talk about your grief to make more space in your head. Journal and move your thoughts from the inside...

February 13 2023

As we continue with our theme of “Ask Your Heart/Quiet Your Thoughts,” I want to talk about ways to quiet your thoughts so you can ask your heart. The first way that comes to mind is to breathe. Br...

February 6 2023

This month our theme is “Ask Your Heart/Quiet Your Thoughts.” We live in a culture that seems to value the head over the heart. As I’ve written before, I appreciate the Native American Medicine Whe...

January 30 2023

As we close this month’s theme of “Timeless Healing,” I leave you with a quote by Etty Hillesum. I think this quote speaks to the healing that takes place inside of ourselves outside of time and ti...

January 23 2023

This month’s theme of “Timeless Healing” can be thought of in two ways. The one we’ve already discussed is that there is no prescribed timeline. Another is that healing can feel without time. In mo...