Mother Teresa says, “I have found the Paradox that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt only more love” Mother Teresa speaks of one of the great mysteries in this quote. In a lifetime many of us go through many trials asking ourselves, why did this happen? Perhaps maybe even looking at the life of another and wondering why it didn’t happen to them. Hence the heart feels troubled, as there [...]
Written for opentohope.com In my years working as a hospice volunteer I have occasionally witnessed a separation between patients and their families, which has resulted in dying “alone,” without a loved one present. It can be a very sad experience to watch. I have a preacher friend who one day said to me that he didn’t know which was harder, dying alone because you have no family, or dying alone because your family stays away, and I [...]
While sitting on my patio enjoying the early evening, I caught a glimpse of a little lime-colored green worm that was stuck in a spider web. The web was very close to the ground and the worm was not far from safety. I watched the worm struggling so hard to break free from the web that he just became even more entangled. If a worm could panic it sure seemed like that’s what this one was doing. [...]
Grieving Alcoholism in Life and Death Unfinished business is not good for anyone. From what I have witnessed over the years, unfinished business comes from the human heart having hope; hope that it will resolve itself, hope that it will go away, hope that one day the other person or persons will figure it out and life can be better. With adult children of alcoholics, sometimes so much goes left unsaid. The grieving process becomes a constant [...]
Nursing Home Sadness or Soul Education? Weekly visits to a local nursing home where I live is a part of my volunteer life. For various reasons I was not volunteering for hospice and I truly missed not having a patient to visit with. One day I walked into a nursing home and asked to volunteer. They were thrilled to say the least; a little paperwork, TB shot and I was on my way back into the wonderful [...]
Grieving Suicide, The Bigger Picture The news of Robin Williams’s suicide came to me when I was driving in my car. The announcer sounded shaken. I knew something was coming other than music or a commercial. Have you ever noticed how when something really tragic happens that affects a nation or perhaps the world we always remember where we were or what we were doing at the time we heard it? If I asked you right [...]
The news has just come in—news you did not want to be true. But it is true, and you and your family are about to enter the Death Zone. If this is starting to sound like a scary movie it isn’t, and by the time you finish reading this I hope you will lose any fear you may have of the death zone. The fact is, we all will die. This is not a secret. But we [...]