Dealing with the Family Home: Cleaning, Selling, or Maintaining Your Parent’s Residence

Dealing with the Family Home: Cleaning, Selling, or Maintaining Your Parent’s Residence

"Dealing with the Family Home: Cleaning, Selling, or Maintaining Your Parent’s Residence," offers a guide for navigating the emotional and logistical challenges of deciding what to do with a parent's home after their loss.

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When a Friend Passes: Supporting Peers and Navigating Grief in Your Senior Years

When a Friend Passes: Supporting Peers and Navigating Grief in Your Senior Years

Prioritizing respect, empathy, and ongoing support beyond the initial service is the best way to honor the friendship and comfort those who are grieving.

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Notifying the Right People: A Checklist for Contacting Family, Friends, and Institutions

Notifying the Right People: A Checklist for Contacting Family, Friends, and Institutions

The article, "Notifying the Right People: A Checklist for Contacting Family, Friends, and Institutions," provides a structured guide to managing the administrative task of notifications following the death of a loved one. 

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Eight Important Differences Between Hospice Care and Palliative Care

Eight Important Differences Between Hospice Care and Palliative Care

The document breaks down the eight key distinctions between palliative care and hospice care, both of which focus on comfort and quality of life for people facing serious or life-limiting illnesses. 

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Downsizing Your Life, Planning Your Legacy: A Guide for Midlife

Downsizing Your Life, Planning Your Legacy: A Guide for Midlife

Downsizing and legacy planning are described as compassionate gifts: Gifting yourself a simpler present and future, and gifting your family clarity, relief, and the priceless treasure of your stories. This work is viewed as a thoughtful new beginning.

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Funding Your Farewell: Navigating Your Top Estate Planning Questions

Funding Your Farewell: Navigating Your Top Estate Planning Questions

The article, "Funding Your Farewell: Navigating Your Top Estate Planning Questions - Blog Post," emphasizes the importance of proactive estate and funeral planning to protect one's legacy and prevent financial stress for family members. 

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The Power of a Planned Memorial Service

The Power of a Planned Memorial Service

By balancing practical needs with the emotional desire to honor a loved one, a service can be created that provides comfort and helps everyone begin their healing journey.

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Greeting January with Grace: Navigating Your Year of Firsts

Greeting January with Grace: Navigating Your Year of Firsts

Greeting January with Grace: Navigating Your Year of Firsts, addresses the difficulty of transitioning into a new year while grieving the loss of a loved one (family member, friend, or pet). 

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The Art of Gentle Forward Motion: Moving On Doesn't Mean Forgetting

The Art of Gentle Forward Motion: Moving On Doesn't Mean Forgetting

The document, "The Art of Gentle Forward Motion: Moving On Doesn't Mean Forgetting," provides a gentle framework for navigating grief, emphasizing that "moving on" is not about forgetting a loved one but about reorganization and finding a new way to live while the cherished person or pet remains an essential part of one's heart.

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The Year of Being Kind to Yourself: A Griever's Pledge for Self-Compassion

The Year of Being Kind to Yourself: A Griever's Pledge for Self-Compassion

Grief is exhausting and often leads to self-criticism. Radical self-compassion - treating oneself with the same kindness offered to a friend is one of the most necessary steps for healing. 

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New Year, New Light: Permission to Embrace Joy

New Year, New Light: Permission to Embrace Joy

This document, "New Year, New Light: Permission to Embrace Joy," offers a redefinition of the New Year's "fresh start" for those experiencing grief. It emphasizes that renewal isn't about forgetting loss, but about allowing space for future joy alongside past love. 

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Let's Share Stories This Holiday Season: Why Sharing Is Important

Let's Share Stories This Holiday Season: Why Sharing Is Important

Sharing stories during the holiday season is important, especially when dealing with grief after losing a loved one or pet. Sharing stories helps keep memories alive, validates their existence, and reinforces the enduring connection. 

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The Sentimental Sort: How to Cherish Memories While Decluttering a Loved One's Belongings

The Sentimental Sort: How to Cherish Memories While Decluttering a Loved One's Belongings

Decluttering a loved one's belongings is an emotional process that allows you to cherish memories while creating space for healing. It's recommended to start with less emotionally charged areas and create a "memory box" for sentimental items. Inviting a trusted friend or family member for support can be helpful. 

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Building a Bridge to Tomorrow: Hope as a Daily Practice

Building a Bridge to Tomorrow: Hope as a Daily Practice

This document, "Building a Bridge to Tomorrow: Hope as a Daily Practice," explores how hope can coexist with grief, emphasizing that they are not opposing forces.

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The Greatest Gift: How to Weave Your Story into a Lasting Legacy

The Greatest Gift: How to Weave Your Story into a Lasting Legacy

Documenting your life story is a meaningful gift of love and connection for future generations. The legacy can take any form - a book, a digital album, a video playlist, or a decorated family tree.

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Staying Present: A Guide to Navigating Hope and Reality in Anticipatory Grief

Staying Present: A Guide to Navigating Hope and Reality in Anticipatory Grief

This document, "Staying Present: A Guide to Navigating Hope and Reality in Anticipatory Grief," discusses how to navigate the complexities of anticipatory grief, a period characterized by both hope and despair.

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The Family Group Chat Guide to Preplanning: Collaborative End-of-Life Decisions

The Family Group Chat Guide to Preplanning: Collaborative End-of-Life Decisions

This document, "The Family Group Chat Guide to Preplanning: Collaborative End-of-Life Decisions," suggests using family group chats as an effective, unconventional platform for discussing end-of-life preplanning.

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Bringing Comfort and Cheer: Decorating Your Loved One's Grave for the Holidays

Bringing Comfort and Cheer: Decorating Your Loved One's Grave for the Holidays

This blog post offers thoughtful ideas for decorating a loved one's grave during the holidays, including traditional decorations, personalized touches, and tips for respectful and eco-friendly adornment. 

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Journaling as a Safe Container for Grief

Journaling as a Safe Container for Grief

Journaling can serve as a non-judgmental space to process the overwhelming emotions of loss. The journal acts as a map of healing, showing progress and revealing patterns. When reviewing past entries, the instruction is just to observe.
 

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Choosing a Funeral Home: Why Ownership Matters More Than You Think

Choosing a Funeral Home: Why Ownership Matters More Than You Think

 This document explains the differences in funeral home ownership and how it can impact the services families receive. This knowledge can help you to anticipate the level of personalization, flexibility, and service a family can expect during the funeral planning process.

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Weaving Their Memory into the Fabric of the Holidays: Meaningful Ways to Honor Your Loved One

Weaving Their Memory into the Fabric of the Holidays: Meaningful Ways to Honor Your Loved One

The document, "Weaving Their Memory into the Fabric of the Holidays: Meaningful Ways to Honor Your Loved One," offers advice on how to cope with the absence of a loved one during the holidays by inviting their memory and spirit into celebrations. It emphasizes that honoring someone is a personal act, not about recreating the past, but finding new ways to acknowledge continuing love.

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Finding Your Way Through the Holidays: A Gentle Guide for the Grieving Heart

Finding Your Way Through the Holidays: A Gentle Guide for the Grieving Heart

Grief does not take a holiday and that it is "okay" to feel sadness, miss traditions, and not be filled with cheer. Your feelings are valid, and self-compassion is essential.

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