Helping With Holidays

Holidays are hard for all grievers.  Whether it's Valentine's Day and someone has just had a break-up, Thanksgiving and someone just lost a job or a home, a birthday and someone's body is turning against them, or any anniversary or holiday and someone has just lost a loved one, these are some of the hardest days to get through.  And depending on how soon it's been since the initial loss, we may have long stopped thinking about the griever.  One of the nicest things we can do is call, write, text, email, or send a card just letting them know that we are still keeping them in our thoughts.  If you're feeling like you want to do more, maybe offer to take them out to keep them thinking about other things.  But it doesn't have to be anything huge.  Just a little reminder that people are still out there holding them in their hearts.

I know someone who received a card from a friend on what would have been her mother's birthday and it was very special to her.  It reminded her of her mother and let her know her friend was thinking of her, but also let her know that her friend remembered her mother and that meant the world to her. Small gestures that take little time and little money but mean so much go a long way toward helping grievers on the holidays, which tend to be big memory days.  Maybe this year, try to make a point of doing more for the friends and family in your life on the holidays and see what a difference it makes.