GriefHaven Blog | Insights and Stories of Healing

December 29, 2013

Grief Relief Television

Finding Hope After Loss On This show Dr. Gloria Horsley and Dr. Heidi Horsley explore the topic of finding meaning after a loss. They interview two inspirational women who rather than be broken by their experience have used their tragic losses to make meaning and to help others.

October 2, 2015

19th Circuit Court of Judges

19th Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Yearly Conference, by Susan Whitmore First, thank you Judge Bridges to inviting me to spend the spectacular day with you and your colleagues. I had the honor and privilege of speaking before the 19th Circuit Court of Judges for the Chicago District in October 2015. In attendance were over 50 judges from the various counties that the 19th Circuit Court covers. The topic was grief and included the science of grief. It was a very special experience for me to be with so many high-powered men and women whose hearts were also broken by the deaths of someone they love. As we know, grief does not care what our status is in life, what we have or have not accomplished, where we live, how we look, or what we have or don’t have. The playing field is equal when anyone loses someone they dearly […]

December 16, 2022

Ideas for Remembering Loved Ones

For many of you, planning for the upcoming holiday brings a sense of excitement and is something you look forward to. For others, not so much, and that includes those who have had a significant person in their lives die—a person whose presence is so blatantly missing that the holidays become a time to "get through" rather than a time to enjoy.

September 23, 2022

Stewarding Children’s Grief

Each person within the family may very well have a different way of healing themselves. Some persons may have a great need to talk, others may need to connect their grief with action, while another might be quietly healing in his or her own private manner. This diversity can often lead to trouble in the family, with barbs being thrown or held in consciousness about some other family member not grieving in the "right" way.

May 13, 2020

Multiple Losses In Succession “Now cut off from the world… Complicated Grief”

As a director of a bereavement center myself, I am very concerned about a friend. Her mother died about 4 years ago. Her father died about 8 months ago. Then, her son, as far as we know, died of an accidental overdose about one month after her father. The truth is it seems she never quite was able to adjust after the death of her mother. She was a devoted daughter to her parents. The following information comes to me by a mutual friend. Since her son's death she has become completely cut off from the world. She does not drive or leave the house. She is completely terrified of doing anything.

October 19, 2020

All Is Well

Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped into the next room,
I am I, and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still,
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used.

January 22, 2005

Klaas’ Kids Fingerprinting

Susan & Wendell Whitmore Help Klaas’ Kids With Fingerprinting Saturday, January 22, 2005, Huntington Park, California. griefHaven joined hands with Marc & Violet Klaas, Polly’s dad and step-mom, through Klaas’ Kids Foundation. HSBC Financial, one of the world’s largest investment companies, opened it’s door in Huntington Parkand asked Klaas’ Kids to be a part of the day’s festivities, which included five $5,000 donations to various charities, photo opportunities, news coverage, and the fingerprinting of over 400 children! This was an incredible day that we will never forget,” said Susan Whitmore. “As you can see from the photos, the families came out in droves to have their children’s photos taken, fingerprints digitized, and DNA kits handed out. It is an honor to join hands with Klaas’ Kids. The EWG Foundation and griefHaven, along with many volunteers, are going to be organizing and conducting several of these events over the next few […]

July 20, 2020

In Gratitude for Healthcare Workers

In Leanne O’Sullivan’s poem “Leaving Early,” the poet writes to her ill husband, entrusting him into the care of a nurse named Fionnuala. As the novel coronavirus sweeps the globe, many of us can’t physically be there for loved ones who are sick. Instead, it is the health care workers — and all involved in the health care system — who are tirelessly present, caring for others in spite of exhaustion and the risk it brings to their own wellbeing. We offer this episode of Poetry Unbound in profound gratitude toward all who are working in healthcare right now.

October 19, 2020

Grief

This thing, this blackness we call grief,
menacing as the dark storm cloud
that moves in silent threat,
Never knowing at what moment
It will strike and with what intensity.

Grief is no respecter of status or person,

October 19, 2020

I Know You By Heart

Midnights in Winter
The glowing fire
Lights up your face in orange and gold. I see your sweet smile
Shine through the darkness
Its line is etched in my memory.
So I'd know you by heart.

July 13, 2018

A Day That Changed My Life (Yet Once Again)

Susan Whitmore, CEO, Meets With Fire Fighters A Day That Changed My Life (Yet Once Again) I was asked by Captain Bob Bates to come to the fire station and talk about griefHaven. He said, “We need you…we need to know about your organization and what you do.” So I went armed with documents, grief pins, and other bits of information to share with them. But what started out as a sharing about griefHaven turned into a grief sharing from the firefighters about their own PTSD, their own trauma and grief over all that they have experienced over the many years they have fought fires, tried to save lives, walked into homes where people have died–where children have died, tried to console families, worked untold hours for the betterment of our communities, and so much more… Most of us have no idea what firefighters do for us. We think they […]

May 26, 2020

When To Date Again

I am a bereavement counselor at a hospice. I have a client who has done amazing work after the death of her husband. She is in her mid-60’s and very healthy. She and her husband had counseling before his death, and she continued after his death. She has written, and written, and read everything she can get her hands on. She has recently met a man in whom she is romantically interested who is concerned she has not grieved enough.