#MondaysMoments

October 23 2023

In the book, A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis wrote: “And suddenly at the very moment when, so far, I mourned H. least, I remembered her best. Indeed it was something (almost) better than memory; an i...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, October 23, 2023

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 mea...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, October 16, 2023

October 9 2023

Nathasha Wagner once said, "I had to learn to have a relationship with someone who wasn’t there anymore." That can feel like an impossible feat, but grief shows us how. When listening to grief, mou...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, October 9, 2023

October 2 2023

Welcome to this month’s theme of “I Am Gone but Very Near.” We all have our own beliefs about what happens after we die. Some of us believe in Heaven, others in reincarnation, still others in no af...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, October 2, 2023

September 25 2023

To close out this month’s posts about “Surrendering Your Soul,” here’s a poem by Antonio Machado that answers the question, is my soul asleep? Is my soul asleep? Have those beehives that labor at ...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, September 25, 2023

September 18 2023

Author Terry Patten wrote, “In truth, the heart must crack open if the soul is to become free. And you simply cannot think your way into that.” Loss cracks our hearts open and grieving is how we he...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, September 18, 2023

September 11 2023

It’s impossible for me to see today’s date and not think about the horrific events that happened on this day in 2001. My family and I were living in Yardley, Pennsylvania, at the time and my husban...
By Jackie Naginey Hook
Monday, September 11, 2023

Previous Posts

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...

November 20 2023

My favorite holidays is Thanksgiving. In terms of the meanings behind other holidays, I’m all in. But I can do without their hype and commercialization. So as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, ...

November 13 2023

As I was writing this month’s posts about our theme of “Memories Become Treasures,” the song “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac started to play. When our youngest child went off to college, this song mad...

November 6 2023

This month’s theme is “Memories Become Treasures.” In a recent grief education and support group I was leading we talked about looking at old photographs of deceased loved ones and how those pictur...

October 30 2023

To close out this month, read these words of poet John O'Donohue: The dead are not distant or absent. They are alongside us. When we lose someone to death, we lose their physical image and presenc...