Healing After Loss, It Does Take A Village!

Recently I had the opportunity to go back "home" and have a wonderful book launch for Recipes for Healing: Working Through Grief One Plate at a Time (Just Not Lasagna!) which had just been published. I knew that it would be emotional, after all, this was my hometown and where my journey had all begun, but what I didn't realize was just how emotional it would be. When the people began to arrive, all of my family, my friends, and my former colleagues, I realized that every person in that room had been a part of my journey. Each of them had gone through the many stages of healing with me and all of them in their own way, helped me to survive my grief, find hope, and to learn to live again.

We are never prepared for the loss of a loved one, and for much of that time, our lives are in emotional chaos, with feelings that range from rage, guilt, immense sadness and feelings of hopelessness. The one thing that can help us through this, is the support we receive from family and friends and others that have also experienced their own loss. I was blessed and very fortunate to have all of them throughout my grief journey and to see them all gathered together celebrating this milestone with me was so wonderful. I was overwhelmed with feelings of love and so much gratitude in my heart for this beautiful village of people. 

I wish for those of you who are on this journey to have that village....

Take good care!!

Collages of Rick & David from my book