Welcome to A Shared Journey newsletter!


I
sincerely hope that this newsletter gives you some tips, advice and encouragement as we take this journey together.

 

Is it easier if they die suddenly or if you have more time?


We often wrestle with this question and I've learned to accept it's all the same (they are gone) but different. No matter how it was, we would always have to balance the extra time we have with them with the suffering of a long illness.

W e are all unique but alike, we just wear different size shoes as we walk together. There are just so many different layers to each circumstance. There are many horrific layers to seeing them suffer or having them die without saying your final goodbyes.

I got the shock of my life in under an hour with no goodbyes or a last I love you, but I didn't have to watch Donnie suffer or watch him wither away. I grieve what we missed being able to do together. We were supposed to retire and grow old together but it wasn't meant to be.

I  think the pain is the same no matter what, but the time together and age when it happens and how fast it happens have impacts on what kinds of challenges we will have. If you haven't had much time together, you mourn the dreams that are lost. If you've had a lifetime together, you mourn the memories you will no longer be making.

If  you have young kids to raise that's a different issue from being a grandparent (missing out on your "golden years" together) or not having had kids at all (worrying about missing out on the chance to ever have children). If it's fast, you are slammed with the reality, but if it's long, you have the horrible memories of a decline and perhaps difficulty adjusting to a life when you are no longer a caregiver.

I believe that grief is grief, loss is loss, and while all of our stories are different the outcome is the same. We have lost our parents, child, spouse, our loves, our friends and often suffer with the feelings of abandonment, emptiness, anger, sadness, and the list goes on.

I also wrestled with this question when Donnie died suddenly, but I have peace knowing that each possible scenario has its good and bad sides and in searching, there is no easier scenario possible. I could make a case for each situation, showing how they are worse, as well as showing how they are better. I think, therefore, that it's not so much about what's harder or what's easier as it is about what the different challenges mean to you.

Truth is, each has their own set of struggles. I don't think there is an "easier" way to lose someone you love. In the end it comes down to what my mother used to say to us,
" it is what it is". 

To Our Shared Journey, Mary Francis
by Mary Francis
Online Resources 
 

The Grief Recovery Method Guide for Loss: 61 tips on the experience of Grief.
Free download of Grief Recovery Guide


T ake your time and check out some of these online sites for the support and encouragement.
Resource Page from the Sisterhood of Widows. 
  
Grief is the emotional suffering you feel when someone you love is taken away.

Law of Attraction & Grief Support

 

Book your free 45 minute introduction session - "Law of Attraction" at your group, church, seniors, community centers or place of business. Learn how to take action and attract positive results and people into your life. 


Email Mary for details and availability:

  • 45-minute Introduction "Law of Attraction"
  • Reserve your seat at one of Mary's workshops.
  • Join for the 8 Week "Grief Recovery Outreach"

 

Mary Francis -Certified Law of Attraction Facilitator and

Certified Grief Recovery Specialist®
Social Links





 

"Chick's Night Out" 


 

First Wednesday of every month. Come join our group of Ladies and remember to bring something for our Pot Luck Supper. It starts at 5:00 pm and ends about 8:00 pm.

 

Click here for more information on the "Chicks"
 

 
Mary's Blog:  http://sisterhoodofwidows.com/marys-blog/

Mary's Website:  www.thesisterhoodofwidows.com  

  
 

Sisterhood of Widows

This is a powerful book of healing containing sixteen true stories from widows of all walks of life who reflect and comment about life after the death of their husbands.

Grieving and Healing Guide


This 40 page booklet offers encouragement and support as you travel your own personal grief journey to healing. It's created in 32 sections for ease of reading and it's for anyone that has lost a loved one.

 

 

 Download Chapter One Free



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Book Pick of the Month

 

  
I Wasn't Ready to
Say Goodbye

by Pamela D. Blair
&
Brook Noel 
 

    

Quote of the Month
 

 
"You don't get to control any outcome, only every choice you make along the way. 


~Stephen C Paul

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