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  • Home
  • About
    • History
    • Mission & Values
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • Annual Reports & IL 990s
    • Privacy Policy
  • West Towns & Resources
    • Local Resources
  • Grief Care
    • Adult Support Groups
    • Good Grief Day Camp
    • Resources
  • Community Services
    • Community Care Team
    • Emergency Assistance
    • Holiday Spirit
    • The Clothing Exchange
    • Monthly Meals Program
  • Donate
  • Blog
  • Contact

Category Archives: Hope & Encouragement

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Food for Thought – The Storm Clouds of Our Hearts

Hope & EncouragementBy Judith H. Hanson, LCSWFebruary 6, 2021Leave a comment

 “When after heavy rain the storm clouds disperse, is it not that they’ve wept themselves clear to the end?”    Ghalib  Grief is a natural response of the heart. Grieving, we allow ourselves to feel the truth of the pain that our loss has left with us.  As we mourn, we allow our bodies to…

Food for Thought – Who Am I Now?

Hope & EncouragementBy Lora Windsor, LCSWJanuary 5, 2021Leave a comment

Many of us are experiencing our own personal grief over the death of a loved one, along with the collective grief during the pandemic. In my private counseling practice, I have heard many clients say, “I don’t know who I am anymore.” The world is less predictable, less “normal,” to us. We find ourselves reacting…

Food for Thought – The Three C’s for Holiday Grief

Hope & EncouragementBy Lora Windsor, LCSWDecember 5, 2020Leave a comment

Holidays can be especially difficult while mourning the loss of a significant person in your life, and we may feel shut down. When that happens, it sometimes helps us to think about what choices we do have about the holidays. Bruce Conley created a helpful handout called “Holiday Planner.” He encourages us to think about…

Food for Thought – The Griever’s Holiday Bill of Rights

Hope & EncouragementBy Lora Windsor, LCSWNovember 5, 2020Leave a comment

People often ask us “What are you doing for the holidays?” When we’re mourning the loss of our loved one to death, the question often feels like a stab in the heart. It can become painful to answer. Either we avoid answering the question because we wonder if we’ll even be able to survive Thanksgiving,…

Food for Thought – Light a Candle

Hope & EncouragementBy Lora Windsor, LCSWOctober 5, 2020Leave a comment

“Death rituals such as funerals not only help you truly acknowledge a death and express your necessary feelings, but they also bring friends and family together to support one another” (Wolfelt, TAPS Magazine, Fall 2020). In addition to funerals, other rituals can help us as well: lighting candles, planting a tree, launching balloons, a memorial…

Food for Thought – Feelings in Grief

Hope & EncouragementBy Lora Windsor, LCSWSeptember 5, 2020Leave a comment

When I think of the many feelings associated with grief, I picture a rubber band ball. It is as if, at any given time, you could pull on one of the rubber bands to represent “mad.” A few minutes later, you could pull on another rubber band to represent “glad.” Yet a few more minutes,…

Food for Thought – One Brick at a Time

Hope & EncouragementBy Lori S. Rueffer, LCSWAugust 10, 2020Leave a comment

The pain of grief is real. The pain of losing someone you love is intense. It can be like losing a part of yourself. Or that self is in pieces so it seems easier, maybe even safer, to build a wall around your heart so you can never, ever hurt again. In a “What’s Your…

Food for Thought – And Now… I Will Be Kind to Myself

Hope & EncouragementBy Lori S. Rueffer, LCSWJuly 10, 2020Leave a comment

Let’s spend our time together this month looking at ways to help yourself in this time of fear, grief and loss. We can call it self-care or showing yourself compassion. I like the phrase self-kindness. It’s something we all need to give ourselves during a difficult, exhausting walk in the shadow of hurt and sorrows.…

Food for Thought – Together in Grief, Together in Hope

Hope & EncouragementBy Lori S. Rueffer, LCSWJune 10, 2020Leave a comment

At the end of my “Food for Thought” in May, I invited you to stay connected to yourself and others during this pandemic time. I was thinking about how it’s important we give ourselves permission to, “Take good care of yourself. And others.” To find new meaning in sharing losses and being a witness to…

Food for Thought – The Pandemic of Grief…And HOPE

Hope & EncouragementBy Lori S. Rueffer, LCSWMay 10, 2020Leave a comment

Dear Friends, I, too, am going to chat for a while with you, following in the footsteps of the compassionate and thoughtful Food for Thought from April 2020 written by Judy Hanson. Please don’t let the social distancing from others due to the virus also distance you from yourself and “what’s going on within you…

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