2020 - Jan - CDT - Helping Hands - A New Year

By: Dar Bellissimo
Thursday, January 2, 2020

A New Year

A new year can be an exciting time full of possibilities. It can also be a sad time when it means you’re saying goodbye to the last year in which a loved one lived. 

At one grief support gathering, a participant shared that she didn’t want to travel because she felt it was unfair to her deceased child who could no longer do so. Another participant shared that she DID want to travel for her deceased friend who could no longer do so. The first woman considered the other’s viewpoint and was open to it. We all grieve in our own ways.

According to psychologist J. William Worden, grief is work that requires the griever to actively participate by completing the four tasks of mourning:

Task #1 – To accept the reality of the loss
Task #2 – To work through the pain of grief
Task #3 – To adjust to an environment in which the deceased is missing
Task #4 – To find an enduring connection with the deceased while embarking on a new life

These tasks can be dealt with over and over again and in no particular order. The idea is that they are a map to help minimize getting stuck in bereavement. Seeking help from professionals can help guide you on this journey.

In addition, we offer education and support gatherings to create safe places to look at these tasks. We hope you consider attending one or all of the following:

  • Monday’s Moments Grief Education and Support Complimentary Luncheons,  Mondays, January 13 and February 3 from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott, 1730 University Drive, State College. Email Jackie@JackieHook.com, call 814-404-0546 or sign up on the Koch Funeral Home Facebook page to RSVP by Thursday, January 9 and Thursday, January 30 respectively.

  • Death Café, the third of Monday of the month, January 20 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Webster’s Bookstore Café, 133 East Beaver Avenue, State College with complimentary desserts provided by Webster’s.

For more information about these programs, please visit Koch Funeral Home website’s Bereavement Gatherings and Events section under the Local Resources tab. All of these events are open to the public and space is limited.

Jackie Hook, MA, is a spiritual director, celebrant and end-of-life doula.  She coordinates the Helping Grieving Hearts Heal program through Koch Funeral Home in State College.  For more information, please call 814-237-2712 or visit www.kochfuneralhome.com.

Leave a comment
Name*:
Email:
Comment*:
Please enter the numbers and letters you see in the image. Note that the case of the letters entered matters.

Comments

Please wait

Previous Posts

2023 - Nov - CDT - Helping Hands - Healing Through the Holidays

Healing through the Holidays Author, poet, and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou, wrote, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” I witness this every day in my work ...

2023 - October - Gazette - Memories Become Treasures

Memories Become Treasures I was visiting with my mom and dad a couple of weeks ago and we started talking about my dad’s parents, who I lovingly called Grandma and Grandad. My mom shared two memor...

2023 - September - Centered - Arriving Where I Started

I love the T.S. Eliot quote, from “Little Gidding,” Four Quartets: “We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for t...

2023 - September - Gazette - Existing Elsewhere

A few years ago I sat with a handful of adults’s in a grief gathering and listened as one mother shared her story. She told us about the moments before and after her young child’s unexpected and su...

2023 - September - Town & Gown - End-of-Life Doulas, Graveside Journaling, and Sponsoring Memorials from Afar

We hope you read the September Town & Gown article by Holly Riddle featuring End-of-Life Doula Jackie Naginey Hook. 

2023 - August - Gazette - Surrender Your Soul

Surrender Your Soul A couple of weeks ago, I stepped onto the deck of our cabin at Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. It was early morning and the sun had just risen from behind...

2023 - August - CDT - Helping Hands - Bereavement Gatherings and Events

Bereavement Gatherings & Events Anne Frank wrote, “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside. . . I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles...

2023 - July - CDT - Helping Hands - "Helping" Someone Who is Grieving

“Helping” Someone Who is Grieving I answered the phone and could tell the caller was unsettled. A relationship and job possibility had both ended for him. Grief had come for a visit, but I didn’t ...

2023 - July - CDT - Learning to Live: What's Your Story?

“Helping” Someone Who is Grieving I answered the phone and could tell the caller was unsettled. A relationship and job possibility had both ended for him. Grief had come for a visit, but I didn’t ...

2023 - July - Gazette - Death is the Memory of the Living

Death is the Memory of the Living My sister-in-law passed away a year ago. Last week on the anniversary date my thoughts returned to all the events that led up to that fateful day. Our heads remem...