Coping With the Death of a Child
Comfort for grieving parents
A good friend recently lost her husband and suffers from acute grief. Knowing I lost my son almost five years ago, she asked: 'How do you do it?''How do I do what?' I asked'It just comes and comes. How do you deal with it?' She was asking me how to deal with feelings of grief.... Continue Reading →
We recite yizkor in memory of loved ones who have passed on, serving as a powerful reminder of the enduring bond between the living and the deceased. Yizkor, a Hebrew word meaning 'remember', is a poignant prayer and usually evokes feelings of sadness because our loved ones are no longer with us. We say yizkor... Continue Reading →
When I started participating in a grief support group, several people talked about distraction as a tool for coping with grief. Some travelled on long vacations, others took short trips here and there just to get away. A few immersed themselves in their day to day work. At that time, my son's passing was so... Continue Reading →
A few months after my son passed away, a friend dropped off a gift for me as well as a small card. My friend was no stranger to loss and grief. Two of her brothers died in adulthood from illness. The card she gave me wasn't the standard Hallmark condolence card, but a card that... Continue Reading →
A person in my grief support group once asked what her child does in the next world. Is he just laying there, waiting for Moshiach and the Resurrection? On the contrary, our Sages teach that our departed child continues to look out for us from a place of eternal love and protection. Losing a child... Continue Reading →
The Jewish calendar mirrors life with ups and downs. A particularly challenging period for the Jewish community is the final two weeks of the month of Tammuz and the initial week of Av. This time period is known as 'the three weeks' during which our people have experienced numerous tragedies, including the devastating loss of... Continue Reading →
Before my son Jacob passed away as a young adult, I rarely heard the term child loss. Of course, I knew such things happened, but I didn’t know anyone who suffered through the experience. Child loss meant losing a child, and that was that. After I lost my own child, I realized that child loss... Continue Reading →
It’s been four years since my adult son Jacob passed away, and my grief is very different from what it was back then. Some things are the same. But I feel the grief of child loss is like a journey. A journey I never wanted to go on, but a journey with turning points and... Continue Reading →
People who have not experienced the loss of a child are uncomfortable talking about loss with those who experienced the ultimate tragedy. This includes friends as well as family members. In the words of one of my grief support group participants ‘They don’t want to hear about it. They just can’t handle it.’ It’s a... Continue Reading →
Tomorrow is Jacob’s yahrzeit and I'm preparing for another Purim without my son. Why did he leave this world close to the happiest day on the Jewish calendar? It’s four years since he suddenly passed away at age 24 of heart failure. As always, I have immense trouble dealing with his passing, and more so... Continue Reading →
My son’s yahrzeit is coming up again. Yes, again. It comes around every year. It’s hard to believe that it will be four years since he passed away. Our family lost a wonderful son, brother, and uncle. In honor of his yahrzeit, I want to share some thoughts about him. When I lost my adult child,... Continue Reading →
First of all, I want to share the wonderful news that my husband and I are grandparents of twin boys born to Jacob’s brother Adam and his wife on the fourth night of Chanukah. In addition to the joy we feel over the birth of these little guys, it’s also bittersweet in that our son... Continue Reading →
Coping With the Death of a Child 