Articles by Gary Roe
This Crushes Grieving Hearts
Loss is painful. Grief is challenging. Sometimes, the grief journey can seem like an unassisted solo climb of Mount Everest. Then there's all the "extra" stress that bombards us daily. Much of this stress is due to lies. Yes, you read that right. Lies. I am alone. I...
When You Think You’re Going Crazy
During this painful grief journey, we can wonder about our sanity. "Am I going crazy?" is a question grieving hearts often ask. Let me clear this up right away. No. You're not going crazy. You are, however, in a crazy-making situation. Someone you love dearly -...
What to Expect in 2024
It's 2024. Can you believe it? When we enter a new year, many people reflect, evaluate, and look ahead. Some make resolutions. Some set objectives and goals for the year ahead. For grieving hearts, however, some of us are just trying to survive from day to day. Some...
The Incredible Stress of Holiday Decision-Making
Decision-making is normally a challenge for grieving hearts. Over the holidays, making decisions can be overwhelming or seem impossible. In my previous email, we talked about the importance of managing our expectations over the holidays - the expectations we have of...
The Sneaky Culprit That Makes Holidays Even More Difficult
As we all know, grieving over the holidays is hard. Difficult. Frustrating. Painful. Fear-producing. Angering. Sad and often depressing. Underneath all of this, a sneaky holiday saboteur is lurking. This grief-complicator often manages to operate unrecognized and...
Thanksgiving While Grieving?
I hope you are doing well today. Thanksgiving is almost upon us. When we're grieving, the Thanksgiving holiday comes with all kinds of challenges. What are we supposed to do with this? How do we navigate special days that are supposed to be about family, togetherness,...
Eight Keys to Getting Through the Holiday Season
In my last post, I talked about Why Holidays are So Hard. We covered eight reasons why this season is packed full of challenges for grieving hearts. Today, we're going to talk about what we can do about those challenges. The overall key to staying sane and getting...
Why Holidays are So Hard for Grieving Hearts
Last week, we had another Zoom Virtual Hangout where we talked about Why Holidays are So Hard. I wanted to give you a brief summary of what I presented. Before I dive in, if you didn't register for the session but would like to view the recording, please reply with...
How Do We Stop Being So Hard on Ourselves?
In my last post, I talked about seven reasons why we tend to be hard on ourselves while grieving: 1. Perfectionism.2. The desire for control.3. Being super-responsible.4. Guilt / Shame.5. Keeping up appearances.6. The need to be strong.7. Past pain, trauma, and...
Why We’re Hard on Ourselves While Grieving
Why are we grievers so hard on ourselves sometimes (or maybe all the time)? You would think we would realize that a devastating loss would bring life as we know it to a grinding halt. But the reality is that we don't know what to do when loss strikes. Loss is often...
My Books
