GriefSpeak: The Perfect Storm

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By: Dr. Mari Dias “I read the news today, oh boy….”  ( The Beatles, “A Day in the Life” 1967) “An election incomplete. A divisive country. COVID. New RI regulations. A subjective media. Financial instability. Daylight savings time. Interrupted traditional education. A Halloween with a blue moon. A dysmorphic Thanksgiving.” These are some of the issues…

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GriefSpeak: “Life Before Life”

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By: Dr. Mari Dias “It is not surprising to be born twice than once; everything in nature is resurrection” (Voltaire) Angela, a 60-something year-old grandma whose husband died recently shared a story with me that piqued my curiosity. I believe it will do the same for you. Angela’s granddaughter, Patricia, a bright, precocious 8-year-old spends…

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GriefSpeak: Memento Mori

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By: Dr. Mari Dias “The choice was made Plans were laid To exit life To end this strife Ingest the pills Depression kills You fade way So still you lay Fading into Darkness Into an Endless Sleep But wake to find yourself alive You have failed at suicide” (Tearstained, Final Thoughts, 2003) Memento Mori It…

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GriefSpeak: Call the Death Doula

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By: Dr. Mari Dias “I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello” (Beatles, Hello, Goodbye, 1967) Many of you have watched “Call the Midwife” either on BBC or more recently on Netflix. Many are familiar with the term “midwife”, or ‘doula” as someone who is trained to assist women in childbirth. A death…

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GriefSpeak: Grieving Youth – Mari Nardolillo Dias

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By:  Mari Nardolillo Dias, contributing writer on grief and grieving Grieving Youth “Age is opportunity no less Than youth itself, though in a different dress, And as the evening twilight fades away The sky is filled with Stars invisible by day.” (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) (Photo: Tree of Life, Gustav Klimt) My refrigerator was once covered…

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GriefSpeak: Loss of Older Loved Ones

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by Mari Dias, contributing writer By: Dr. Mari Dias “And wherever you’ve gone And wherever we might go It don’t seem fair… today just disappeared Your light’s reflected now, reflected from afar We were but stones, your light made us stars” (Pearl Jam, lyrics by Eddie Vedder) I attended two memorials this week. Both mothers…

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GriefSpeak: Life after Life

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By: Dr. Mari Dias “She said, she said I know what it’s like to be dead” (The Beatles, 1966, Revolver) The year 2020 has been difficult for many, and devasting for some. Despite all things COVID, quarantine, and the state of the nation, life and death go on. There is no hiatus or sabbatical on…

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GriefSpeak: Life of (Sighs)*

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By: Dr. Mari Dias “A picture is a secret about a secret, the more it tells you the less you know. “(Diane Arbus) My clients if prone to writing, often use journaling as therapeutic homework, either for their own personal growth and/or to share their story with me.  Below is a journal entry written by…

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GriefSpeak: She’s Come Undone

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By: Dr. Mari Dias She’s come undone She didn’t know what she was headed for And when [she] found what she was headed for It was too late. She’s come undone.” (The Guess Who, Undun,1969) It’s September 2020. Monica’s nativity scene remains on display. Her suitcase from a trip in February sits, unpacked. When she…

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