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"That's what good cathartic, purposeful writing can do.
The paper listens. It doesn't try to fix anything."
~ Joan Hitchens, February 24, Grief Reflection
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Dear
I have been writing my heart out lately. Actually, since Thanksgiving of last year. Now I am ready, that is, I am feeling brave enough, to share my writing with you. It is with sadness that I bring some very personal news to you today. My husband of 27 years has been diagnosed with Stage 4 advanced lung cancer. In fact, this information came to us in October. Last month (February) he was admitted to hospice for home healthcare to sustain us through the last months of his life. I know there are many of you who read this who will know all too well the road my family now travels. Yet, I am oddly pleased to be sharing another very personal decision: to openly blog my writing journal about this time in my life to anyone who cares to read it. * * * * * |
 Grief Reflection
 Grief Reflection is what I call the process used in the Storybooks for Healing workbook for writing, listening and sharing the stories of life, grief and finding meaning after loss. Now,www.GriefReflection.com is the new SFH sister website that carries my personal writing as I take my most difficult grief journey yet.
I've posted the entries since January, plus included some backfill entries, but today is the day I have mustered up the guts to tell everyone it's online!
These past few months have only reinforced the powerful system of Storybooks for Healing for me as I "walk the talk" in my own reflections. There is the cathartic writing of reflection and the stories that arise from memories. As you read Grief Reflections you may begin to see how writing naturally helps unfold thought. Then, you see how memories can become the foundation of storytelling.
Everyone can make this happen through focused, purposeful writing! But I won't tell you that it is easy, or that you won't feel vulnerable, or uncomfortable at times. Believe me, I can attest! I'll also say that I don't post everything I write, because there are still areas that are very private and should remain so.
These are all premises of SFH and the group writing experience. You write for yourself, share what you need to and then publish the most important stories and photos of your loved one and his or her impact on you and your family's lives. The process helps you conduct conversations you thought you weren't capable of saying aloud. And that helps everyone around you.
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Bringing Purposeful Writing to You
 Writing is a commitment to listen and learn. Doing so with others is how you discover and propel personal growth, healing, and meaning to loss, even anticipated loss.
From my writing, I've learned that I want you to be able to find your voice and support through not only grief but other areas of self-growth, self reflection. This is why I am pleased to announce that I have a special online journal now being prepared just for you as the Storybooks for Healing writing community. This will fulfill one of the dreams I foresaw when the program was first launched. This clears the way to bring the full SFH program online as well.
Please stay tuned for details on joining with me and others as we all explore our lives, our grief and our renewal. In the meantime, you are welcome to read and comment on Grief Reflection, read some books from the SFH Amazon store or engage on Facebook and Twitter. For our bereavement organization friends, remember you can host your own SFH group and begin writing together today.
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Finally, thank you. I am writing, working and living through this time of grief aloud because I know that some of you will relate to my words, some of you will encourage my continuing and some of you will challenge my thinking. For this I am grateful.
Sincerely,
Joan Hitchens
Storybooks For Healing
PS. You are welcome to to friends, colleagues or patients you think could benefit from the Grief Reflection or Storybooks for Healing articles and information.
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| Connect: |  |  |  |  |  | | | Storybooks For Healing | Facebook | My Storybook Publisher | Twitter | Grief Reflection |
About the Storybooks For Healing programStorybooks For Healing is a bereavement program which assists individuals in making meaning of their grief and loss using a guided writing program. Together in small support groups, participants discover, write and discuss their loss journey, then are encouraged to create a special tribute storybook to share with family and friends.About the SFH Publishing CenterCreating books, cards and other gifts of memories in My Storybooks Publisher is the second step of the two-part bereavement program. Designed especially for capturing both stories and photos of a loved ones after loss, this web-based program makes it easy to create and publish your own custom story projects based on the SFH Grief Reflection process. My Storybook Publisher is available to anyone wishing to create a beautiful hardbound custom books and photo gifts to commemorate their loved one and does not require attending a Storybooks for Healing program. Grief Reflection is a term used in the Storybooks for Healing program for the process of writing, listening and sharing the stories of life, grief and finding meaning after loss. This blog is the personal journal of Joan Hitchens as she as she navigates grief in context to her life while caring for her husband with terminal cancer, her work as SFH owner and her musing as a hospice volunteer. Storybooks for Healing and its entities provide this site as an educational and peer informational community and is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal or other professional services. If expert assistance is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
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