A Mother’s Day Tragedy and a Birth-Death Day Celebration

Annah ElizabethFamily, Gavin, Loss, Grief, and Healing, Parenting2 Comments

Dear Neighbor, Twenty-eight years ago, a miracle happened when a child was born. When you think about everything that must occur prior to any birth, the precise nature of so many scientific details, every delivery is miraculous. When I began writing this post, I realized that twenty-eight years ago, at the exact same hour, I was timing and logging contractions … Read More

Ask Annah: I’m Afraid My Deceased Loved One Will Be Forgotten. How Do I Prevent That?

Annah ElizabethAsk Annah, Loss, Grief, and Healing, Mental Health, RelationshipsLeave a Comment

Dearest Neighbor, This is one of the greatest fears The Living have following the death of a loved one, especially an unexpected or “untimely” death. Widows and Widowers. Loss Mamas, Papas, and Siblings. “Orphaned” children. [Insert your whatever.] We lament what will never be. “Lost time.” Things that “should be” but never will be. We have this sense of how … Read More

Ask Annah: Why Do Friendships Change After a Significant Loss?

Annah ElizabethAsk Annah, Family, Loss, Grief, and Healing, RelationshipsLeave a Comment

“Friendships are discovered rather than made.” ~ Harriett Beecher Stowe Dear Journeyer, “Why do friendships change after a significant loss?” is a question and conversation I hear regularly from people of all ages and across all loss forms. If you have discovered that your relationships with friends or family feel strange or estranged since a Significant Life Loss Event entered … Read More

Ask Annah: Why Do I Feel Worse 2-3 Years after My Significant Life Loss Event

Annah ElizabethAsk Annah, Loss, Grief, and Healing, Mental Health2 Comments

Dear Journeyer, I am often asked some variation of this question: “It’s been three years since my child/parent/sibling/spouse/best friend died and I feel worse now than I did when it happened. What is wrong with me?” Though this query often references the death of a person, I have also heard it with regard to other forms of loss, including but … Read More

I Remember

Annah ElizabethHappy Happens ™, Loss, Grief, and Healing, Parenting2 Comments

Dear  Journeyer, Today is a special day on so, so many levels! Most of you know it simply as Mother’s Day. But for some of us, it is so much more… …a more that is equally complicated, courageous, saddening, maddening, underwhelming and overwhelming… Though I’m not surprised, I hadn’t expected the outpouring of sharing that began after The Grief Toolbox … Read More