Dealing with Grief and Fears

One thing that’s almost certain, once you’re over 60, is overcoming grief.

It’s hard to avoid grief unless we die early or we’re incredibly lucky. By now, many of us have already lost our parents, even if they lived to a ripe old age. Mine passed away at 89 and 90. Although it was hard, (they died within two weeks of each other) it was expected because of their age and was easier to deal with. Read More

Time brings more confusion as facts and details become threadbare, leaving only the visceral emotion you felt at the moment of impact. That’s where the demons live, directing your life from their secret lair. You might need to bring them out into the light, to see if they can survive scrutiny…

We’ve reached a stage in life where death is closer to us than it ever was – death of parents, friends, siblings, associates. When it happens, we are often given advice to obtain “closure,” defined as a sense of finality…

It seems normal to fear big decisions when one is over the age of 60. We’re more risk averse, afraid of ambiguous outcomes and dark shadows that loom around the corners of unexplored territory.

It’s easier to stay safe, maintain the status quo. Read More

Just when you feel least able to cope with life after your husband’s death, you’ll be faced with making crucial decisions that can affect your finances, your family, your livelihood and more. Read More

Having lost both parents I was no stranger to major loss, but in 2012 when my sister Linda died I knew this parting was unique. I looked for support but found more information about coping with the loss of a pet than how to handle losing an adult sibling…

We sixty somethings are at a time in our lives when we experience loss and grief. Many of us have lost our parents, but I just experienced a loss that I’ve never experienced before – the loss of a sibling. Last month was my sister Pam’s birthday, and she would have been 60 years old. I’ve missed her a lot lately because it’s hard to move on as if nothing has changed. In fact, it seems disrespectful…

Death and dying are not popular dinner topics. In fact, there are few circumstances in which society considers it to be appropriate to talk about our mortality. Read More

Over 30 years ago, I had the honor to work with Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. At the time, concepts like palliative care and hospice care weren’t well known. In fact, through her book, “On Death and Dying,” it was Elisabeth who started to bring the conversation about death and dying into the open. Read More

On the surface, saying that dying matters, seems so obvious that it’s not worth mentioning. After all, what could be more important than our mortality? We are here on this amazing planet for such a short period of time. Death is the ultimate destination that, in many ways, gives our lives meaning. Read More