On the heels of the 16th anniversary of 9/11, I found this article which was written right after that terrible day. It speaks about the agony and complexity of a loss when a loved one is missing but there is no concrete evidence of the death. The loss is ambiguous. How does one mourn while also […]
This article speaks of another type of complex loss. It is written from the perspective of a Mom who was pregnant with twins, and lost one of them at birth. Her daughter was born healthy, but her son faced insurmountable medical problems in utero, and he died immediately at birth. This Mom speaks eloquently of holding […]
As I have mentioned before, I keep encountering references to replacement dynamics everywhere. This seems to be a testament to how common they are, despite the fact that we rarely discuss them. I am reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom. I was sorry to learn that he and his first wife, Evelyn, lost a […]
Lately in my reading of fiction I keep stumbling across examples of replacement dynamics! Fascinating. I think that loss is so painful for us that the urge to replace and fill the void is quite common. I just finished This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel. In the backstory of the book, a young […]
This article in the New York Times gives an interesting overview of Complicated Grief and treatment possibilities. The main subject sought treatment at the Columbia University Center for Complicated Grief after mourning for her husband for nine years. Her grief was deemed to be complicated as the intensity of her pain was still severe after […]