I recently heard of a friend’s mother’s dying process.  “It’s just awful,” my friend said, “they’ve got hospice in the house and she’s just got a few days left.”  Meanwhile, I learned that this elderly woman is surrounded by her husband, children, and grandchildren, all of whom have had an opportunity to share their love. (more…)

I’m a Gleek, a devoted fan of the Fox show “Glee.”  I’ve been watching avidly for two years.  Although it’s a musical drama about a high school glee club, they sensitively tackle serious subjects like bullying, homosexuality, teen pregnancy, divorce, and now death.

As a grief therapist, I was curious to see how they might treat this subject in the most recent episode, “Funeral.”  Sue Sylvester (the viciously cruel gym teacher) lost her beloved sister and was devastated.  She shut down in her pain. (more…)

I can’t help but notice that it’s Friday the 13th.  I know it’s just a silly superstition.  After all, I own a black cat that walks in front of me frequently.  I bought a house that was #13.  My step daughter broke a mirror but we haven’t noticed 7 years of bad luck.

Still, I find myself treading a little lightly on this day of inauspicious portent.  It’s not a day I would choose for making a risky investment or asking for favors.  I prefer to let it pass quietly.

Superstition aside, I believe we create our own luck by our beliefs.  I recently heard a friend say “With my luck, the plane will be delayed several hours.”  “Not true for me” I thought, “I feel quite lucky.  With my luck the plane will land safely!” 

Most people are as lucky as they choose to see.  When we focus on our many blessings and our outrageous good fortune to be alive at this time in history in this country of bounty, we begin to see how lucky we are.  I still don’t plan to buy a lottery ticket today, but I know that today and every day is my lucky day.

Ashley Davis Bush, LCSW is the author of

 “Transcending Loss:  Understanding the Lifelong Impact of Grief and How to Make it Meaningful”

 To order a copy Click Here

She picked up one item after another, swiping each barcode across the glass surface.  I thought to myself, this woman . . . this stranger across from me, employee in a drug store, has a mother. 

It is my habit, one of my shortcuts to inner peace, to look at the employees in stores, banks and coffee shops, and ask them in my mind, “Who is your mother?”  In that brief moment of awareness when I recognize our common humanity, that we are each born of a woman’s body, my heart is opened. (more…)