Grief Support Cards: "The First Holidays™"

A Holidays Educational Video Gift from the Volunteers at MyGriefAngels.org

Real life grief journeys and personal strategies on how each of us got thru our first holidays after the loss of our loved ones

For anyone grieving anywhere these and every holiday.

Grief Support Cards: "The First Holidays™" - Video 5 of 5

A Holidays Educational Video Gift from the Volunteers at MyGriefAngels.org

Real life grief journeys and personal strategies on how each of us got thru our first holidays after the loss of our loved ones.

For anyone grieving anywhere these and every holiday.

Grief Support Cards: "The First Holidays™" - Video 4 of 5

A Holidays Educational Video Gift from the Volunteers at MyGriefAngels.org

Real life grief journeys and personal strategies on how each of us got thru our first holidays after the loss of our loved ones.

For anyone grieving anywhere these and every holiday.

Grief Support Cards: "The First Holidays™" - Video 3 of 5

A Holidays Educational Video Gift from the Volunteers at MyGriefAngels.org

Real life grief journeys and personal strategies on how each of us got thru our first holidays after the loss of our loved ones.

For anyone grieving anywhere these and every holiday.

Grief Support Cards: "The First Holidays™" - Video 2 of 5

A Holidays Educational Video Gift from the Volunteers at MyGriefAngels.org

Real life grief journeys and personal strategies on how each of us got thru our first holidays after the loss of our loved ones.

For anyone grieving anywhere these and every holiday.

Grief Support Cards: "The First Holidays™" - Video 1 of 5

A Holidays Educational Video Gift from the Volunteers at MyGriefAngels.org

Real life grief journeys and personal strategies on how each of us got thru our first holidays after the loss of our loved ones.

For anyone grieving anywhere these and every holiday.

MyGriefAngels.org's Volunteer; Professor; Published Author and "Grief Walking @ Books" Videocast & Podcast Host - Kendall Klym Interviews Author Stephanie Zamora on her book - "Unravel: Rising Up and Coming Back from a Season of Living that Damn Near Killed Me"

About the Book: "Two years after beginning it, my relationship with the sweet Southern boy comes to an end. After a couple of weeks of showing up at my door, I ask him to leave me alone. Two days later, he commits suicide, and it turns my life inside out. Over the following months, my brain begins deteriorating rapidly. To the point that I cannot put my own life story in order, let alone remember what I did the day before. I sit in front of my computer and just cry because I cannot remember half of the clients on my list, nor can I remember how to build websites."

The title of my sign is Eight Hundred and One Thousand.

Since mom's unexpected death in ICU, our father went into schock, developed PTSD within a week of her passing on, and that accelerated the onset of an aggressive Dementia.

While prior to her death, he was healthy, driving, and exercising everyday, after her death - his started on a steep decline that found him bed ridden and under 24/7 home care soon after her death.

Under the supervision of an excellent mobile care medical unit, and a team of 24/7 caregivers, he was doing well at home until two weeks ago. We got the call Friday night that his blood test results were not good, and because he had not shown any signs prior to this - both his doctor and us thought it had to be an error with the test, which had happened before. Saturday night we got the second test results and they were worse.

After consulting with the doctor, we felt the only option was Hospice at home, and they were to start him on that the following morning.

We got on the first flight to Los Angeles on Sunday morning, and were able to spend the afternoon with him. He was alert, eating, joking, watching baseball and enjoying having the whole family together. He had a good night and as he did most of his life, he talked in his sleep all night. Then at 5 am, my brother suddenly woke up, jumped out of bed and rushed to his bedside. Minutes later, he woke us all up as he knew that dad was in his last breaths. Like he did every morning since her death, he called out mom's name, but this morning - she responded, as we knew that mom was there to take his hand from my brother and guide him thru.

Dad had a single tear of joy from his eyes as they opened wide, and we knew - he was at last with his lifelong partner of 60 years. This happened right before thanksgiving, and we buried him on the Tuesday of Thanksgiving Week. Two weeks to the day of his passing, we were still in a sort of surreal phase trying to understand and accept that all that had just happened right before what we thought was going to be a family thanksgiving get together.

Then that same Friday, their favorite picture of the two of them was posted online, and within hours - it had over 801,000 views and on the front page of reddit. We knew that was dad sending us all a sign, but specifically to our younger techie brother, because he sent it to us thru the only medium he knew he would get our younger brother's attention - Online and his message was short,clear and on the picture: "I am OK and with mom again"