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Our Heart This experience we call life doesn’t happen in an isolated vacuum; we experience life’s greatest joys in our relationships. As humans, we have an inherent need for relational connection; a desperate longing to be loved, accepted, wanted and understood. Relationships give us a deeper understanding of what is truly important in life; they become points of light on the path of our life’s journey. Our company mission at Light of Hope® - to walk the path of grief with others while offering support and encouragement - was cultivated from a passion to be a warm and welcoming beacon of light on the very rocky path of healing from a loss. We genuinely care about the emotional, physical, relational and spiritual welfare of those who have experienced loss and consider an invitation to ‘sit on the front row’ of someone else’s pain after losing a loved one to be one of life’s greatest honors.
Hope and Healing |
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For anyone who has lost a spouse, child, parent, family member or friend, they’ve discovered how debilitating grief can be. Coping with the death of a loved one is one of the most challenging experiences any human being can face, and the journey through grief is different for each of us… we all take our own path. No two people can have the exact same relationship with another individual, and it is the loss of that specific relationship that is mourned. In the journey from mourning to healing, it is important to have the caring support of others as well as access to resources; both serve as a source of hope through this season in life. |
There is one commonality, however – each life that touches our hearts has shined a light into our world and it seems only fitting to embrace their memory with the warmth and comfort of light. |
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Our earnest desire is to offer you a safe house; a shelter when the storm of grief seems to be ravaging your life…. More often than not we question the ‘normalcy’ of what we feel and experience following the death of someone we love. The intent of our support program is to give you an honest and transparent glimpse into the grief journey through the stories of others who have walked a similar path. Some of the excerpts will be snapshots, while others may focus on a segment of the journey. Some will call attention to the intensity of a feeling while others will draw you into the full experience….. allow each to speak to your heart, offering you enlightenment and encouragement as travel your own path. |
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Light for our path Hope. It’s a simple word that brings light into darkness. Sometimes on the grief journey, we need just the faintest hint of light in order to see the next step we need to take. Allowing that light into our hearts is one of the most difficult things to embrace when we want to forget or deny all that has happened….we don’t want to betray the person we have lost. But that light is the very thing which brings hope for the future as we fully embrace our past.It is our greatest hope that you will find strength and peace, understanding and connection in these stories of journeying through grief as you ultimately allow it to do its work your life - for it to become your teacher - as you learn to live again. |
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What is grief? How is it we know so little about grief and how to ‘live through it’ when each one of us will experience death and loss in our lives? It is the proverbial ‘elephant in the room,’ no one wants to acknowledge its existence. It is important to give ourselves (and others) permission to not only celebrate the life of someone who has died, but to allow ourselves the space and the grace as we learn how to live again, to find a new normal without the physical presence of that person as a part of our daily lives. We need to acknowledge the influence and memories that person had in shaping who we are today, but also allow ourselves to create new memories and relationships which embrace our hope for tomorrow. When we allow ourselves to openly express our grief, we give ourselves permission to take the next step on our journey. The alternative locks us in the prison cells of our past. |
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Grief is disruptive and intrusive. It’s painful, relentlessly invading every part of our existence. It is messy, confusing, isolating and unrelenting and seems to contradict itself as we vacillate from emotion to emotion. Grief catches off-guard at the most inopportune times and exposes what lies deep within our hearts – it introduces us to ourselves. Grief is like waking up out of your worst nightmare, strapped into the front car of a roller coaster; anchored in with the lap bar down and shoulder harness locked… you’re on a ride of shock and dread, and you have no idea how or why you’ve arrived there. It jostles and jolts you in every possible way; it slowly makes its way to a peak, then plunges at a dizzying pace to the valley floor with sharp turns through guilt, helplessness and self-pity, and then hurls you into anger, despair, bitterness and fear. |
Grief is a process which, in time, will ask us to face our pain and emptiness by choosing to express our grief instead of stuffing it in a bag and cramming it into the far back corner of a dark closet. It’s an inward battle; no one can fix it or make it go away. |
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Ultimately, if we allow it to, grief becomes our greatest teacher. It has the capacity to show us how to love more deeply and to live more fully. If we are willing to take grief by the hand, allowing it to lead us for a short while, it can heal our hearts and give a more purposed meaning to our lives. Though grief moves in like an unwelcomed intruder, it has a purpose in our lives. It is important to realize that grief packs just a few bags for its sojourn into your life; it hasn’t backed up a fifty foot moving truck to the front door.
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Hope for the Journey
I love the hearts of those will be sharing parts of their journey with you in the quotes, excerpts and stories on these pages. Their passion is to be a light along your path; to let you know that the anguish you may feel today is not here to stay, and to help you to understand that what you are feeling is real and that you are not alone. May you find encouragement, enlightenment, relief and most importantly, hope as they share bits and pieces of their lives, their struggles and their victories as fellow sojourners. - Sandy Vice President of Memorialization and Family Services |
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Guilt “It’s quiet here now; my world has stopped spinning. But in the deafening silence time seems to stand still and a numbing cloud of confusion engulfs my mind like a dense fog. Pictures of our last days and moments race through my mind in ‘fast forward’…..they bounce around from image to image like a pinball machine… no control, no pattern, no sense of reason as they ‘ping’ one chapter of our lives and then another. Emotions sprint after my memories like a lioness after her prey. They leap forward, their full force pouncing on me…. weighing on me…. finally the load is too great to carry…. guilt and regret sink its teeth into my heart.” Shhhhh! After a couple of months the cards stopped coming and the phone ceased to ring. The rest of the world thought that it was time for me to ‘move on’ with my life. What life? Everything had changed; nothing was the same. My world was in slow-motion and most times just seemed to stand still. Every room…. events, songs, smells, flowers and food… everywhere I turn reminds me of my aloneness…. my deep and aching void. In an attempt to drown out the silence, I try to bulldoze my way through the pain in an attempt to bury my anguish beneath a mound of performance-driven activity…. to prove to myself and to others that I was ‘doing ok’. Who was I kidding? On the outside it appeared that I was handling everything very well, but on the inside I felt like a volcano of pent up emotion with an eruption imminent. How much longer could I escape the reality that my life has changed….dramatically, completely – forever? Love Remains: No matter how dark my world may get, the light from your love remains providing, just enough light to give me hope for today.
*We will continue to add meaningful and relevant content, so check back often for additional stories, articles and resources for your journey. Feel free to write to us at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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