Work was difficult for me at the time of my loss. Work seemed insignificant. Work seemed trivial and pointless. This was from a person who if she is being honest, was a workaholic. I think I blamed work – and not me! – for taking too much time away from my loved ones. When in reality it had been my choice and those who loved me knew how work was important to me. It helped me define who I was…somehow.
So I was interested earlier this month to read about how work – in this case football – had helped Jermaine …read more

First of all I will send the details for our Widows Quest support group out on Friday, ahead of the Sunday conversation. Don’t forget to let me know if you want to join in by emailing me at anna@theengagingbrand.com
Yesterday I was at another funeral and they read out a poem called She Is Gone which really made me think about grief and how to cope with the loss of a loved one.
She is Gone
You can shed tears that she is gone
or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she’ll come back
or you can …read more

My friend who I have written about before lost her husband a couple of years ago. At the time the children seemed to cope with the loss relatively well, yet recently they have had some behavioral problems. When she talked to them they told her that they wanted to see Daddy and how they wanted to talk to him, that they had never really said goodbye.
The other day she took them to a park which they used to visit as a family. She gave them some paper and a pen each. She asked them to write down what they wanted …read more

On a recent blog post Emotional Pain and Hurt, I told the story of how grief overwhelmed me and how I was given a second chance at life. I thought long and hard before I wrote that blog post because that is a private story of my bereavement that I haven’t wanted to tell before…it was too raw, too painful.
I told it because of the widow who wrote to me not knowing how to cope with her loss. I hoped to help her….and yet, in a way I think I helped my own grief. That story has been buried deep …read more

I hope that you are feeling stronger, to help you cope with the loss each Sunday I post articles that I receive about positive thinking

Ari Koinuma presents This Is How Good Life Can Be posted at Ari Koinuma, saying, “Here’s a little post capturing a great evening I enjoyed recently. Reflecting on where I’ve been and where I am now, I can’t help but be grateful for how far I’ve come.”

David B Bohl presents Is Enough Ever Enough? posted at Slow Down Fast Today!, saying, “Do you ever find yourself complaining that you need more or want more of …read more

We have a new reader to our community – Jan left a comment to the Widows Quest Grief Recipe, welcome Jan. Jan asks a great question about grief and maybe we can help her
“I lost my husband 3 years ago this month and this has been the most intensely emotional year…. I thought my life would get better, and it is the opposite. I feel a part of myself is moving on — but I am grieving this “moving on.” Please tell me if this is normal.”
First I am not sure there is anything normal about grief, or a normal …read more

When we have a loved one taken from us through death, we can so easily become angry with the world. Well I have just heard about a wonderful film about the story of how Susan Retik and Patti Quigley, who were 2 soccer mums turned their tragedy of losing their husbands in the 9/11 bomb attack around.
They struggled to cope with their loss and yet turned their focus from grief, to reaching out to the very country that had trained the terrorists who took their husbands lives: Afghanistan. They turned to empowering Afghan widows.
The new film Beyond Belief tells the …read more