WOW: Women's Older Wisdom
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March 2024
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Loss and Grief

The Invisible Weight of Grief

GUEST POST by FRANCESCA ARNOLDY Being a grief group co-leader has taught me to respect the invisible weight of grief. I can scan a grief support group of friendly faces, and assume people are okay given their smiles and warm handshakes. And yet, once we get through introductions and take the conversation deeper, these seemingly “okay” [...]

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Where Do We Go From Here?

Many of us are struggling with this question as we try to process last week’s heinous hate crimes where a Trump disciple mailed pipe bombs to many of Trump’s sworn enemies; where a white racist killed two elderly African Americans in cold blood in a Kentucky market; where 11 mostly elderly men and women were murdered at Pittsburgh’s [...]

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Witnessing Death

GUEST POST BY MARGIE MARTIN CAMPBELL I first encountered death when I was three. I watched my beloved Grandpa (Dad’s father) restlessly walking the floor, then sitting on the couch only to return to his pacing. I had noticed he hadn’t eaten, so I suggested to Mom that she fix him something. I wondered why she had such a strange look on [...]

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Death Doulas: Making Death Easier

No one wants to die, but what if there was a way to soften death, to make it less scary, to minimize regrets, and to make meaningful goodbyes? Enter death doulas, women and men trained to administer spiritual and practical support for the dying and their families. While many folk traditions and cultures have ceremonies to usher the dying into [...]

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After the Sobbing, the Sorting

Guest post by Janet Weil A favorite Jack Kornfield book title of mine is “After the Ecstasy, the Laundry” — modern stories and ancient tales of dealing with life’s day-to-day challenges after the ecstasy of spiritual epiphanies. That phrase frequently ran through my mind as I faced a long to-do list after my mother, [...]

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A WIDOW’S JOURNEY: Part II

Guest Post by Elaine McGillicuddy Once the funeral is over, and the sympathy cards arrive less frequently, what is it like, after every errand, or meeting with a friend, to return to an empty house? I couldn’t bear the void. It’s desperation that told me: “Just sit! Just sit.” What relief to find that in sitting, I experienced Francis’ [...]

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A WIDOW’S JOURNEY: Part 1

Guest Post by Elaine McGillicuddy (First in a two-part series by Elaine on living as a widow) For me, the process of dealing with my grief through the loss of my beloved husband was through writing. I felt compelled to preserve Francis’ words, and what we experienced together during the 100 days from the date of the cancer diagnosis until [...]

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