Christmas is over and as New Year’s Eve and the new year in general approaches thousands travel to spend time with their loved ones. People share a meal and conversation with family, couples share laughter and enjoy each other’s company while exchanging gifts, but what about the widow with no children or the single man estranged from his family? In my profession, I have been able to meet so many different people and privelaged to hear their stories, some of which include isol

When I used to work in hospice, I remember getting assigned one of my first patients (along with her family) because as people who work in hospice or in death and dying know, in providing grief and bereavement counseling, you also work with the family not just the patient that is leaving us behind. For the sake of her privacy and to continue to refer to her in this post, I will call her Jean (please be informed this is not her name of course). During my work with Jean, I was