Vim & Vigor - Winter 2011 - North Mississippi - (Page 39)

ss a Lo o e ou on y e He a l t hy g som r ie v in g put s af ter h nt e t pa h h e a li n g to s clo e o to y u dies E rin West was 29 when she learned her mother’s diagnosis: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease. West became caregiver to her dying mother, her “hero,” and watched her mother’s life fade, day by day. “I felt all the pain,” West says. At 90, Alice Delaney* has outlived just about everyone close to her. A 97-year-old friend recently died, but Delaney didn’t cry, saying her friend “lived a beautiful, full life.” My own loss was sudden. As our phone chat ended one Sunday, I said, “I love you, Mom.” “I love you, too, sweetie,” she answered. Four days later, a blood clot hit her lungs and my mother was gone. Within all stories of deeply felt loss are lessons for healthy grieving. “How you grieve will be unique to you,” says Marty Tousley, a clinical nurse specialist in adult psychiatric and mental health, and a hospice bereavement counselor. “You can learn how to use this time to help heal yourself.” > ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL WOLOSCHINOW B y C . J. utchin son H Vim & Vigor · WI NTER 2011 39

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2011 - North Mississippi

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2011 - North Mississippi
Contents
Opening Thoughts
Getting Back to Life
ACT Now!
Lingering Memories
Accumulating Accolades
Back in Action
Supplementary Knowledge
Keys to Survival
Clearing the Air
Mark Harmon of NCIS fame makes 60 look good
This One’s for the Girls
Life After a Loss
Do Your Diabetes Homework
Healthy Returns
Care for the Caregiver
Gaining Control
Moving Forward
Catch the Spirit

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2011 - North Mississippi