What should you say to someone who is grieving the loss of a loved one? When a person is experiencing a loss like that, it matters less what you say and more that you show up in the first place. Non-verbal communication of your sympathy can be far...
A 1952 thank-you note from then recently widowed Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother is a moving description of how grief “bangs one about until one is senseless,” and the comfort that the gift of a book can provide. This is part of a complete episode...
Although in English we have the terms orphan, widow, and widower, our language lacks a one-word term that means “bereaved parent.” A few other languages have a word for this, including Hebrew sh’khol and Sanskrit vilomah. This is part of a complete...
Bathroom walls, missing graffiti, and social media. Where have all the cute quips on bathroom stalls gone? We wonder about the apparent decline of restroom graffiti. Are people saving their witticisms for Twitter and Facebook? And: If there were a...
We’ve talked on the show before about the language of grief and the use of euphemisms like, “I’m sorry for your loss,” or, passed away. A retired Middlebury College history professor wrote us to say that it’s all very well to be against euphemisms...
We talked about passed away versus died on a previous episode, and got a lot of responses on our Facebook page saying that phrases like “I’m sorry for your loss” don’t do justice to the reality of what happened. This is part of a complete episode...
