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

Mary from Miss dilletante’s playground is giving away a book and a cd, she contacted me as the book is called Comfort and as Mary explains
“Ann Hood writes about the searing irrational nature of grief in one of the most profound books I’ve read on the grieving process. This is high praise, because I’ve read a lot of books on the subject as I’ve been wending my way through widowhood.”
And the Carly SImon CD is also significant as recalls receiving it as a gift
“She gave it to me a week after my husband Michael died. It was the perfect collection …read more

I have never been a person who is frightened, yet when you grieve the loss of a loved one, suddenly fears surface that you never imagine. Fear of being alone, of the future, of the dark, of socialising, of going out…..together we have to face the fear
F = Fear lessons when we break it down. We can say we are fearful of the future….then think about what specifically frightens you…the future is too general. Is it money, is it being alone, is it the odd jobs around the house! Then develop a plan of how you will cope with the …read more

I wonder what you would say, I have written down a few sentences – what would you answer ?
Grief is mourning the loss of life, but the gain of memories
Grief is the end of one chapter and the start of another
Grief is the loss of a loved one but the gain of knowing what love truly is…
Grief is the pain of living in the present whilst wanting to live in the past
Grief is knowing what is important and wishing that you had known before…
Grief is personal, individual, yet universal. 

Grief is fear of the past, present and future
Grief is …read more

One of our regular readers is Tiffany who sent me the most wonderful e-mail which I asked if I could share with you all. She also attached a poem in memory of Josh who she lost one year ago today..I hope you find it as moving as I did..here we go
“This past year has been a journey to say the least and I do not think I would have gotten through it if it weren’t for the support from friends family and Widows Quest. Your site helped me see that I was not the alone and that means …read more

I am travelling today and just pondering on why death is so shocking? After all it is the only certainty in life, we know it will happen, we know that nothing is for ever. Yet the shock is a huge part of the grief, as though we were just not built to deal with such strong feelings. For something that was bound to happen to us during our life, we don’t seem to be wired very well to cope with it…what do you think?

I spoke to mum today about what she would say were the 3 key things that helped her get over dad dying. Here are her 3 key steps

 Accepting his death. Accepting that it was better that he has gone than him suffering as much as he was…no matter how strong the pain, the pain would have been worse watching him suffer.
Allowing friends to persuade her to go out…”giving in” and as much as she did not want to go out, forcing herself into social situations.
The power of the telephone and talking to her friends – it provided comfort and also …read more

To overcome the period of mourning, to overcome the hurt we need a great deal of inner belief.
B= Believe in your ability to cope with the pain and come through even stronger.
E= Expect to be happy again.
L=Learn to love again. Trust that the benefit of love is greater than the pain of loss.
I=Inspire your inner beliefs by setting goals for your future…inspirational goals that you can work towards.
E= Emotions. Understand your emotions, don’t fight them. Learn how to control them and what ma  kes you happy.
F= Face your problems – they will not go away, face them to face your …read more

When you lose someone you love, you discover a lot about yourself. I wanted to share with you what I have learned during the bereavement process.
D= Determined to continue to live life to the fullest – and not waste the precious time we have on this earth.
I= Inner thoughts are so important. Your self talk is so strong, the more you can change the way you talk to yourself in a positive way, the more you start to move forward.
S= Sentimental! I never used to keep things, now I treasure all the little mementos.
C= Courage. It would be easy to …read more

Welcome to the July 20, 2007 edition of how to solve money worries.

ChristianPF presents How to make more money with your emergency fund posted at Money in the Bible | Christian Personal Finance Blog, saying, “A quick how-to showing you how to use an emergency fund to save more money and increase it’s growth rate.”

Millionaire Mommy Next Door presents Create Your Treasure Map To Riches posted at Millionaire Mommy Next Door, saying, “Visualizing what wealth means to you shapes the way your mind thinks about money and your life. Your mind then sets in motion the actions necessary to …read more