Living on the edge of despair is common for grievers. It doesn't matter how your child dies whether from an accident, disease or murder you feel as if your heart is ripped out of your chest, stomped on a million times, torn to shreds, and what's left is shoved back in. But, healing is possible if you can make some sense out of what you are experiencing. If you can make your child's life count for something good afterward it can help tremendously. Many people decide to help

No one grieves the same way or at the same pace. Families reeling from a loss, especially death, struggle with the differences because they don't understand why others aren't portraying the same feelings or behaving as him or her. It always bears repeating. No one grieves the same. Our grief is as individual as snowflakes. We have different life experiences and beliefs that shape us. So, don't judge how others are grieving or not. In the case of children and teens, they oft

I am reminded of a young boy named Komake as I sit on my front deck watching the palm trees sway. He was born on Oahu so his folks gave him a Hawaiian name. We met in Washington but Komake was part of the aina (the land) of where he was born. Beautiful mountains, valleys and sea cliffs surrounded by the ocean. He was a sweet little boy with a brain tumor. I met him by chance one day when I was at Children's Hospital. He had a swollen little face that looked as if the cause