Sending a bereavement card to show you care

Bereavement cards, or more commonly known as sympathy cards, offer comfort and love to those who have had a loved one die. Most people send a card immediately after learning about the death. However, sending a card months later, as well as on a significant day of the year, is also appreciated. Those grieving want to know that you are thinking of them and aware of their loss throughout the year.

Songs from Heaven is one bereavement card you can send, letting the recipient know that you are remembering with them. On the front of the
postcard is a verse, and the back has ample space to write a note. The cards are sold in packs of ten, with white envelopes.

Venture to this website to learn more.

Hatteras Girl

My third novel, Hatteras Girl, will be released by Bethany House in October. The cover has been completed and I'm excited.

So what is the novel about? Read on.

There are two things that journalist Jackie Donavan dreams about--marriage and owning a bed and breakfast in Nags Head, NC.

But why is the bed and breakfast she desires deteriorating, and why won't her relatives behave so that she can go out with the handsome realtor? Filled with quirky friends and relatives that help and hinder Jackie to and from her goals, Hatteras Girl, is about uncovering the truth while finding the way to your dreams.

Why Writing the Heartache Works

Everyone knows that I teach and promote writing through sorrow and loss. The ability to release my anguish that bottled inside me each day after my son's death was healing. I took my journal and pen and wrote in between changing diapers (I gave birth to my fourth child three months after Daniel died), making peanut butter sandwiches for my toddler, and walking my oldest to the bus stop for first grade.

One of the books I bought that I highly recommend to the newly-bereaved is Forever Remembered. This small book is filled with cherished messages of hope, love, and comfort from courageous people who have lost a loved one.

The other day one selection jumped out at me, and I thought, "Ah, this is good. I wish everyone realized this!"

Here it is for you to read. It's nice to see that others feel that writing through grief is some of the best therapy there is. Give it a try today.

It was a few months after my grandmother's death that
I was taking a course in creative writing. My teacher suggested
that I record some of my thoughts to help me work through my sadness.
This diary became my memorial to her. Even now I read aloud the pages.
I still laugh and cry about times we shared together.

~Earl A. Grollman

Alice's Wonderland: Writing from Home

Jill Hart of CWAHM (Christian Work at Home Moms) has posted my latest column at her blog. Gear yourself to write, put excuses aside, and read more at Alice's Wonderland: Writing from Home.

Rain Song reviewed

It's always a bit like Christmas when an author finds her novel has received a good review. So, head on over to Grace Thorson's blog and read about pineapple chutney, Pretty Fishy, and quirky Southern relatives. That's right; Rain Song!

Memories of a smile

There's a pull on my heart today---the kind that won't let go even though I'm enjoying a day that's all about spoiling me---my birthday. The wrapped presents on the kitchen table embrace mystery, and a magnificent chocolate cake made by my son Ben awaits. My two daughters whisper in the next room, and once my husband comes home, the five of us will go out to eat dinner at an Italian restaurant.

Yet, through moments of this day, the bittersweet mixture of pain and joy is evident. There's no denying that this ache stems from years ago when I sat in a hospital room with a little boy. He was the patient, but it was my birthday. The nurses brought in a cake with candles for me. The boy smiled, and wiggled with excitement as the nurses sang. Later he ate two pieces of cake.

Much later, he threw up. Seems chemo and birthday cake do not go well together.

Less than a month after my birthday, I cradled his breathless, bloated body in my arms and wondered how I'd ever live to see tomorrow.

I was not planning to have to live his August birthday without him. Nor mine.

Now, thirteen years later, I'm wrinkled. I might even have gray hair; I don't really know because I color it at least once a month. But the little boy is still four.

Each year on my birthday, his smile warms my heart as I recall the way he sat on his hospital bed, happy because his mommy was being treated to a cake with candles.

Each year I wish I could see that smile for real, and not just in my bin of recycled memories. When my birthday cake is sliced, I want to offer him at least two pieces.

Sweet Daniel, perhaps there's cake in Heaven. Perhaps the angels sing. Once I've wiped the tears from my eyes, I'll listen for your voice among them.