October 16 2023

By: Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, October 16, 2023

In connection with our theme, “I Am Gone but Very Near,” I’ve recently learned that in the Aramaic language, the word death means “existing elsewhere.” For some people, the death of a loved one means they’re gone from their physical body, but still very near in terms of their energy or essence. Countless people have pulled me aside to share a story about how they felt their loved one’s presence in a room or smelled the fragrance of their loved one’s favorite flower for no apparent reason. When I ask these people if they experienced comfort in these situations, their responses are always, “Yes.” I encourage them to take the comfort. Our loved ones are gone but very near.

Leave a comment
Name*:
Email:
Comment*:

Comments

Please wait

Previous Posts

January 29 2024

We’ll close this month’s posts with a poem by Jocelyn Soriano that speaks to how we run on empty – because we don’t let go of love!  We do not really let go of love;  We hold on to it. W...

January 22 2024

Grief can deplete us of our energy, so how do we run on empty? In the Koch Funeral Home arrangement room there is a small birds nest with tiny little eggs. We place it there to remind us that famil...

January 15 2024

The dual-process model of grief emphasizes that mourners oscillate between feeling the stresses of the loss and the stresses of restoring their lives – sometimes we feel the pain and sometimes we a...

January 8 2024

How do we run on empty when we’re grieving? As we discussed last week, resolutions and intentions can help. Resolutions can help get us moving when we feel stuck. Intentions can help us be open to ...

January 1 2024

We wish you a meaningful New Year’s Day! If you are creating New Year’s resolutions today, we encourage you to create some intentions as well. Resolutions are usually specific and measureable where...

December 25 2023

For those of you celebrating today, we wish you a meaningful Christmas. We’ll close this month’s posts with a wish for the candles you might light during this holiday season. Candles of joy, despi...

December 18 2023

I’ve had the opportunity to spend days in silent retreats. Sometimes I was by myself. At other times, I was with groups of people and I was struck by how profound those experiences were. Instead of...

December 11 2023

I wasn’t always comfortable with the concept of, “Dare! Silence.” I grew up in a house with five kids and two parents, so silence was not something that happened often. When I began to practice a s...

December 4 2023

This month’s theme is “Dare! Silence.” Silence is very important throughout our lives, especially on our grief journeys. Silence can be intimidating, and we often try to fill it when we encounter i...

November 27 2023

To close this month, please read Anne Hillman’s poem, “We Look With Uncertainty” as you notice “something new is being born in” you while making new treasured memories. We look with uncertainty be...