Letter
from the Editor, August
2003
Welcome. I hope you will find this Loss Journal to be a safe space in which you can gather information, connect with others who will understand, and maybe learn something new about your own path.
In last month's issue we talked a lot about professional behaviors and shadow issues that seem to stop us in our tracks as we move through life after the death of a child. This issue we are making an effort to offer some antidotes to those things. We have articles full of very helpful information, and many of these articles and resources have been brought to you by trusted professionals who actually understand the short- and long-term effects of grief. I'm so honored that these professionals have reached out to our readers with ideas and helpful hearts.
Krista Hartrich, MSW, offers us ideas about how to be empowered when seeking to work with a grief therapist. I'm thrilled by her wonderful words of encouragement -- her balanced sense of how parents will *know* when a therapist is right on vs. when they are not. The folks from over at Grief.net are helping us to debunk those old "stages of grief" myths. Very informative!! We have a wonderful interview with the Founder of MISS, Joanne Caccitore-Garard, and she shares lots of information that is wonderful for professionals as well as bereaved parents.
We have parent perspectives from Katie Hodge, Stephanie Marottek, Jen Mountney, along with wonderful poetry from Susan J. Erickson and Oriah Mountain Dreamer. We also are honored to have the perspective of a sibling this issue with a poem from Stevie Jo Caccitore as she shares a poem for her sister Cheyenne who was stillborn. We also have an interview with three different bereaved moms who experienced the birth of twins where one child died and the other lived. Amazing candor from these ladies!
And don't forget the contributions from the folks over at the KotaPress online Discussion and Support Group! They have once again brought us an amazing page of inspirational and insightful quotes. Plus they are giving us more Q & A on the Grief Journal. Again, candor and insight that floors me.
Other features include a review of The Bread, My Sweet; additions (sadly) to our Honored Children page; information about the 2004 MISS Passages Conference, and more. Check it out...
And I wanted to mention two resources discovered in this past month, but I just couldn't figure out where exactly to feature them, so here we are!
One is for Bikers Against
Child Abuse!! Very cool
project that I hope to learn
more about for next month's
issue when we'll try to
run a feature article about
this:
http://www.bacausa.com/index.html
And then this link which
takes you to a "Super
List" of over 900 other
links for grief resources.
Now quantity does not always
equal quality, and I can't
say that I've surfed every
link here. But the sheer
magnitude of the list someone
put together here is amazing.
Out of 900, I'm sure you'd
find a few (hundred) that
would be helpful! So thought
you all might want to check
it out:
http://www.preciousheart.net/Main_Archives/Links_Folder/SUPER_List_Grief.htm
See you next month...
Miracles to you,
Kara
L.C. Jones, Dakota's Mommy
Editor-In-Chief, KotaPress
This page is dedicated to Dakota
Born and died March 11, 1999
Author Biography
Kara
lives on Vashon Island which
is a much more awesome place
than she ever imagined it
would be - though she'd
like to find a stable living
situation where she wouldn't
have to move for like two
or three years at least!!
She is a poet, bookmaker,
wife, teacher, mother to
a stillborn son, facilitator,
tech consult, founder, struggling
p.t.barnum, turtle faithful,
editor, artist, and a million
other things that will prevent
you from putting her in
any one particular label
box! Kara teaches through
local art centers, artists
in the schools programs,
KotaPress and independently.
To find out more about her,
see:
http://www.KotaPress.com/kara/karajones.htm
