To all my US friends I hope that this holiday season treats you well, I know that holidays are in so many ways tough for people in grief but here are 4 ways to give thanks

Give thanks to all those around you, whose love has kept you strong
Give thanks to to your heart for caring so much about you that it has kept beating despite all the pain.
Give thanks for our community at Widows Quest  – there for all our bad days, to smile on the good days and most of all, to always listen and never judge.
Give thanks …read more

Here we are at another Sunday, well done to all of us and getting through another week…but if we are going to move from surviving to thriving, to move past the grief then we need to be motivated to get past the loneliness. Here are this weeks articles to help widows, and widowers

ananga presents How to Use Your Breath to Relax Your Mind posted at Ananga Sivyer’s Living by Design Blog, saying, “If your mind is behaving like a kid in a waiting room and is really having trouble keeping still and quiet, you need to learn to distract it …read more

I posted yesterday about some tips on how to cope with a family thanksgiving and today I want to send my love and thoughts to those people who through bereavement, loss of family they may be alone this year. Loneliness is an awful feeling and I wanted to tell you, this year you are not alone…..

There is a community here that will support you, that understands your loneliness, that understands your grief. We may not be able to hug you in person but here is an online hug to keep you warm.
Try and reach out this year – do you …read more

The holidays are a wonderful time for family, but when someone is missing forever then the emotional drain on coping with their absence can be very high. So here are some tips from someone who is learning to cope with   family gatherings
F = Families may change in who is present but family remain a loving bond to ease the pain.
A = Allow yourself to talk about them, relive memories so that they are part of the day.
M= Mend bridges – often when a death happens and people cope with the grief differently, quarrels can occur…if they have with you, …read more

This time of year is hard as we miss the people who are no longer with us to share the holiday times. But I like to see it as a chance to
1) Pay THANKS to my lost loved one for GIVING me the most wonderful years of my life. After all we can we may miss them but we were lucky enough to have had them in our lives and to have felt happiness with them.
2) Ensure that I am GIVING to others to show THANKS for them being in my life.
Thanks and Giving are 2 such underutilized words and …read more

Normally a joyful time, and I just wanted to send my thoughts and love to anyone who this year has to cope without their spouse. It is tough and there is nothing that I can say or do that will help the pain. More than that as the family disappears you are then left on your own…and a feeling of even greater depression hits.
I just wanted you to know, you are not alone and together we will help each other through it. Stay on line, visit the yahoo and google grief forums……talk to people who understand. Together we will survive …read more