After the funeral

After the funeral

I found out my former colleague had died when I looked him up on Facebook and his page reported, ‘deceased.’ What? The shock was like a gulp of cold water through my chest. We had not been close, but I don’t know. I had felt like we were kindred...

Ever wonder what kids think about death?

People tend to be scared of talking about death. The Parting podcast is a series of discussions and stories, made and hosted by a group of brave, smart, funny and daring young people of Wollongong. I got to participate in one of the discussions and I learned a lot....

Interfaith ministry

I have just been accepted by The New Seminary into the ministerial program. I’ll tell you about it. I have been looking for a way to pray in community for years. I guess you can take a girl out of Catholicism, but you can’t take the Catholicism out of the...

Top ten tips for responding to a mourner

Today I bundle under my new doonah cover, bought for its primary colours in a nod to the need for cheering up. My husband has taken our daughter to the playground, which she was unimpressed about, sensing perhaps that mummy’s retreat to bed reflected more than a...

Grief and pain

The pain has hit. Today was the first day I did not think to myself, ‘I can’t believe she is gone.’ Now that the buffer of shock has dissipated, the pain can be felt, as if the body was waiting for the mind to be ready to handle it. Just. Grief feels...