NOVEMBER ~ My favorite month of the year! A month that ‘kickstarts’ the holiday season, from Thanksgiving through Christmas! A season of changing colors and cool, sweater-weather; a season of pumpkin everything (especially at Starbucks:) and a season to smell the burning leaves, the backyard campfires and the wood burning fireplaces around the neighborhood! Now, take one, big, deep breath! Can you smell those leaves, the pumpkin pies baking, the logs in those fireplaces? I hope so, because those smells and visual pictures help resurface our memories from years past. Even memories from our childhood experiences become especially strong during the holiday season.
IF you are someone who’s had a very tough year of personal or family loss, your Thanksgiving holiday this year may not be the Norman Rockwell experience you were hoping for! That tough year may have included major losses, and by that I mean deaths of family members and/or friends, a heartbreaking divorce that often feels like death within a family, health losses that changed your life-plans for the future, and last but not least, the death of a beloved family pet! After tough years of major loss and seasons of pain, you will probably have to work super hard to Give Thanks for the memories!
NOW let’s talk about the turkey in the middle of the dining room. Your Thanksgiving dinner table may have fewer people and some empty chairs this year. . .Maybe Dad is gone and won’t be carving the turkey. . .Aunt Mary’s amazing strawberry Jello won’t be on the table, and Uncle Frank? Well, his jokes and booming voice will be missing. Years of traditions, laughter and good memories won’t be continued because the family can’t gather at Grandma’s house. Can there be a giving-of-thanks after so much grief and loss? Well, a good friend just reminded me that, “Sometimes the questions are complicated, and the answers are simple!” Wow, hold that thought a minute.
NOW let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Unresolved Grief. You know losses of all kinds are accompanied by seasons of pain, including months or even years of tears! Thankfully, grieving is a normal and natural reaction to loss, so even though we all grieve differently and for varied amounts of time, the grief-process is meant for your well-being. It’s necessary to help us heal more completely, physically and emotionally. When we take action to address the elephant in the room (instead of avoiding it) there’s freedom from our grief, and a new-found ability to Give Thanks for the memories!
SO, can there be a return of Giving Thanks, even after a year of loss and heartbreak in our lives? Absolutely! It may look and feel differently this year; it may include more time and tears, but investing hard work on completing recovery from grief will help you find future freedom to say, "Thanks for the memories, Lord!”
Linda McLaughlin May
Grief Recovery Specialist
THE GRIEF & WELLNESS GROUP
LindaMc4004@gmail.com
ww.GriefTheThief.com
Call today! 520-668-5906
IF you are someone who’s had a very tough year of personal or family loss, your Thanksgiving holiday this year may not be the Norman Rockwell experience you were hoping for! That tough year may have included major losses, and by that I mean deaths of family members and/or friends, a heartbreaking divorce that often feels like death within a family, health losses that changed your life-plans for the future, and last but not least, the death of a beloved family pet! After tough years of major loss and seasons of pain, you will probably have to work super hard to Give Thanks for the memories!
NOW let’s talk about the turkey in the middle of the dining room. Your Thanksgiving dinner table may have fewer people and some empty chairs this year. . .Maybe Dad is gone and won’t be carving the turkey. . .Aunt Mary’s amazing strawberry Jello won’t be on the table, and Uncle Frank? Well, his jokes and booming voice will be missing. Years of traditions, laughter and good memories won’t be continued because the family can’t gather at Grandma’s house. Can there be a giving-of-thanks after so much grief and loss? Well, a good friend just reminded me that, “Sometimes the questions are complicated, and the answers are simple!” Wow, hold that thought a minute.
NOW let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Unresolved Grief. You know losses of all kinds are accompanied by seasons of pain, including months or even years of tears! Thankfully, grieving is a normal and natural reaction to loss, so even though we all grieve differently and for varied amounts of time, the grief-process is meant for your well-being. It’s necessary to help us heal more completely, physically and emotionally. When we take action to address the elephant in the room (instead of avoiding it) there’s freedom from our grief, and a new-found ability to Give Thanks for the memories!
SO, can there be a return of Giving Thanks, even after a year of loss and heartbreak in our lives? Absolutely! It may look and feel differently this year; it may include more time and tears, but investing hard work on completing recovery from grief will help you find future freedom to say, "Thanks for the memories, Lord!”
Linda McLaughlin May
Grief Recovery Specialist
THE GRIEF & WELLNESS GROUP
LindaMc4004@gmail.com
ww.GriefTheThief.com
Call today! 520-668-5906
| Linda brings her 'passion for people,' as well as a desire to see lives changed to The Grief and Wellness Group. After 30 years in business, including marketing and radio, Linda's personal Grief Recovery journey led her to take a career shift, in order to help people take necessary action to recover from their loss. Whether you choose an Outreach Group or One-On-One sessions, Linda says, "Don't delay; I want to meet you personally; Let's get started! |
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