Zander Masser was only 11 when his father died of AIDS, contracted because of his treatment for hemophilia. How much does a child know about his parent as a full human being? How would he carry his dad in his life going forwa...
Right at the beginning of her relationship with the love of her life, Joni Sensel had the disturbing epiphany that she would not have him for long. It turned out to be true. But before he died, it pushed her to engage fully a...
How can we open up conversations with children about the heavy subjects; illness, death, grief? For Sherrie Barch, the answer came in the form of an allegory about the ways that our dead loved ones continue to be connected wi...
An expert in helping others navigate their emotions, grief taught Mary Lamia how to come to terms with the unsolvable emotions after loss. That experience led her to conclude that grief is something to BE with more than somet...
Sometimes change comes by way of a fire that burns us to the ground. Losing everything he thought was important to him, Adam Hall embarked on a quest to remake his life but ended up remaking himself. What are the most importa...
A project to bring poetry and art to a community in grief after 9/11 evolved into an ongoing community of artists committed to offering peace, hope and inspiration. As we continue to need encouragement to face troubling times...
Sherry Walling experienced losses of very different kinds in a short period of time. Only five months after her beloved father died of cancer, her brother killed himself. Her world was thrown into an uproar and, as a psycholo...
After her fiancee's father died, Erica Buist became terrified of death itself. Afraid to venture outside and anxious about the other people she loved dying too, her life narrowed to an alarming degree. She resolved that once ...
Judy Lipson's family had more than their share of loss and no skills at talking about them. After the deaths of her two sisters Judy put her head down and went on, not believing she could face her grief. In the process, she w...
When we experience loss our first and most intense desire is to get back to who we were before the tragedy. When that isn't possible, we can become lost in an endless loop of desire for our old self. But it is in accepting th...
Michelle Cleveland coaches her clients to be the best versions of themselves.The lessons she learned from two of her children who had learning differences taught her to meet her clients where they are and support them in thei...
Differences are what make humans endlessly evolving, and interesting. But often people who are different are shunned, oppressed and misunderstood. Mickey Rowe was seen as different both because of being legally blind and beca...
Over a lifetime, what has given you the gift of shift? There's no way around those painful and difficult circumstances that come to us all, but what ultimately allows us to move forward with new wisdom? Ann Papayoti has exper...
Ken Ross grew up immersed in the work of his mother, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Unlike most people in the West, he was immersed in a world where death, dying and grief wer openly talked about and explored. How did he come to view...
Living what he considered a charmed life, Ivan Maisel was completely unprepared for the unexpected loss of his 21 year old son from suicide. The decisions he made in those first terrible hours, days, weeks, gave him a way for...
Living a lifetime without his father, Jonathan Wess developed a clear vision of what he would have gained from that relationship. Only four years old when his father died, he missed out on the opportunity to learn from his fa...
Creative expression is a powerful way to process the losses in our lives- and sometimes takes unusual forms. For Carol Finizza, trying to understand her daughter's addiction led her to write a murder mystery. How did writing ...
How do our deepest experiences guide our lives after? For i.b. casey cui, a cancer diagnosis at a young age sent her life in a different direction than anyone expected, ultimately helping her to defy the demands of her family...
The profound experience of love and loss often lead an artist to a deep need to create. In fact, mourning itself is a creative process, helping us to evolve into our new selves. For Corey Madden and her husband, facing his en...
Kelley Skoloda was a very healthy woman until she was diagnosed with cancer. Along with the brutal treatment came a new way of looking at her life. As a successful MBA with a thriving career, adjusting to a period of health c...
When Gina Harris' parents died, she tried to stay connected to them through memory and music. As a jazz singer, over time she began to sing her sorrow, and her healing. The music that came out of this deep place in her led he...
Karen V. Johnson, a successful judge promised a lifetime appointment, was sure she would continue living the same way indefinitely. But when her son died of a heroin overdose she soon realized everything needed to change. Set...
Little House on the Prairie personified a simple, pioneering and wholesome lifestyle, bringing love and family into our living rooms. It is still loved around the world long after the series ended. But what of the real people...
When Rachel Michelberg's husband crashed into a vineyard, suffering a severe brain injury, she'd been thinking about leaving the marriage and even entertaining the idea of an affair. How would she find it within her to take c...