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Toni Lepeska

When a Parent Dies

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Grief’s Impact: Did Debbie Reynolds Die of a Broken Heart?

           The tragic news of performer Debbie Reynold’s death the day after Carrie Fisher’s, her famous daughter, illustrates the tremendous stress grief puts on loved ones left behind. People can indeed die of a broken heart.             According to a USA Today article, Reynold’s son said the stress of his sister’s death “was too much” for …

Read moreGrief’s Impact: Did Debbie Reynolds Die of a Broken Heart?

Grief’s Impact: Did Debbie Reynolds Die of a Broken Heart?

           The tragic news of performer Debbie Reynold’s death the day after Carrie Fisher’s, her famous daughter, illustrates the tremendous stress grief puts on loved ones left behind. People can indeed die of a broken heart.             According to a USA Today article, Reynold’s son said the stress of his sister’s death “was too much” for …

Read moreGrief’s Impact: Did Debbie Reynolds Die of a Broken Heart?

Using Joy to Navigate Grief

           The late afternoon sun beamed down on us through the clouds of the incoming front as my husband bent down on his knee and asked me to marry him. I giggled. “Of course,” I said.             That happened eight years ago today on the roof of the historic Memphis Peabody Hotel. What’s a happy …

Read moreUsing Joy to Navigate Grief

Rescuing the Holiday from Expectations

            I once wrote that each Christmas gets better and better after losing someone you love to the grave. I meant well, but I was wrong.             Stay tuned. There’s hope in this story.             Last year, a great pall fell upon me for reasons I cannot pinpoint. I was unhappy with Christmas. Go away. …

Read moreRescuing the Holiday from Expectations

A Christmas Recipe: Putting Together a New Normal

      I’m trying to figure out how to put my new life together. It’s been eight Christmases since I lost my mother and 11 since I lost my dad, and I still am trying to figure out this “new normal.” Especially this time of year.        Maybe it’s like following a recipe. I don’t mean that …

Read moreA Christmas Recipe: Putting Together a New Normal

Castro, My Mother & a Piece of Cuba

Fidel Castro died, and I wanted to tell my mother. You know, she’s dead, too, and whether the Castro news is important to her now, I don’t know. But it would have been important if she’d been alive because she saw his tanks roll into Cuba and destroy her island fantasy. Single, childless and 30-years-old, …

Read moreCastro, My Mother & a Piece of Cuba

Grief is a Journey to be Shared

Welcome to my blog. I got an uneasy feeling as I prepared to write this first post. I’m not a terribly private person, but as the moment to bare my soul approached, I discovered I wanted to hold back, not put myself out there. Expressing grief is an exercise in vulnerability. Perhaps you’ve felt vulnerable …

Read moreGrief is a Journey to be Shared
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