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Grief
The First Year of Friend Grief
Feb 01, 2012 by Victoria Noe
ihavethesecret.wordpress.com"525,600 minutes...how do you measure a year?" ("Seasons of Love" from Rent)In the case of Friend Grief, there are many ways to measure the past year. A year ago today, in the midst of a 21" snowstorm here in Chicago, this blog went live.I'd returned from my first Writers Digest Conference a week earlier. I knew before then that I needed a blog, but I was stalled on the details. Actually, I was obsessed with the details. So I asked Dan Blank a question during his session: how do I do this? Word Press or Blogger? Template or Custom? He said what my panicky ears needed to hear: just do it. Start writing and worry about the other stuff later....
A Death Notice on Facebook
Jan 30, 2012 by Victoria Noe
John Northage, Jr.I had something else in mind to share today. But as often happens, the universe had other plans.I logged onto my Facebook page this morning to see a post that confused me at first. It was a friend's Facebook page announcing his death. For a brief moment, I thought it must not be him. It must've been his father who died. But when I saw his son's link, announcing that John had died of a heart attack yesterday, I knew it was the worst possible news.My daughter was 6 months old when I first went to John's wife for acupuncture. We bonded quickly, over our close age and beautiful baby girls born within weeks of each other. John,...
Pitching My Book at Writers Digest Conference
Jan 25, 2012 by Victoria Noe
George Davis tweeting at WDC12I've taken a few days off here to attend the Writers Digest Conference in New York.In addition to workshops and speakers addressing the craft and business of writing, there is a Pitch Slam, where hundreds of writers pitch their books to brave agents. I was one of the hundreds.I spent most of the conference with friends (not all of whom I'd ever met in person before). A few of us had met there last year, our friendships deepening over the phone and internet. We practiced our pitches on each other, tweeted madly and bared our souls over calamari and frozen custard (not at the same time).As I stood in lines 10-deep to wait for agents who'd...
Grief Lessons from Winnie the Pooh
Jan 18, 2012 by Victoria Noe
A.A. Milne (and friends)Today is A.A. Milne's birthday. I've read his Winnie the Pooh stories in English and Latin (Winnie ille Pooh, as I recall). I was in a show in college with his great-niece. My daughter's nursery was full of Pooh and his friends. In honor of Milne's birthday, I'm bringing back my reflection on Pooh.Perhaps my favorite children’s stories are about Christopher Robin and his best friend, Winnie the Pooh.There was always an ordinary quality to their stories: get up in the morning and see what happens. Characters had strengths and flaws, but were always acceptedWe all have friends like Tigger - the personification of ADHD - whose non-stop energy is exhausting. Who doesn’t have a friend like Eeyore,...
Grief and Anger: Not Pretty
Jan 17, 2012 by Victoria Noe
This post originally appeared in September and generated quite a bit of attention. And why not? Anger is the emotion we try to keep separate from our grief. It represents a loss of control, a lack of objectivity. But control and objectivity do not peacefully co-exist with grief. Here's a reminder of why it's okay to be angry, and okay to let it go:Anger can be unattractive, there’s no question about it. It’s messy and unpredictable, sometimes loud and violent. And in a world where we like things to make sense, it’s often unacceptable. But never more than when you’re grieving. There’s a long list of people we can be angry with:The person who died: why didn’t they take better...
Dying: There’s an App for That
Jan 13, 2012 by Victoria Noe
It had to happen sooner or later. Remember Murder She Wrote and other mystery TV shows and movies? Someone - usually a wealthy, mean, vindictive person - leaves a video for viewing by his/her survivors. There are shocking revelations - perhaps motive for that person’s murderer?Well, Facebook - recognizing how digitally addicted we all are - has a new app: “If I Die”.I love that name: “If I Die” - like we have a choice. JHere’s an article from today’s Chicago Tribune:Facebook "If I Die" AppIt’s a great idea for control freaks (like me). You control what your final Facebook status update will be. You create a video to be posted when (sorry, it’s when not if) you die. Three...
9/11: Are We Done With This Yet?
Jan 11, 2012 by Victoria Noe
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"Around the time of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, several major newspapers - including the Chicago Tribune and New York Times - took a look at the response of the arts communities to 9/11. The results were varied and somewhat disappointing.The authors of the articles wondered aloud why there were no iconic plays - like Rent - or films - like Philadelphia - which addressed the AIDS epidemic. There’s no shortage of documentaries: the building of the World Trade Center, the attacks, the search for bin Laden, the “truth”. But that’s different. Even Paul McCartney’s 9/11-inspired song “Freedom” fell flat. Why?Grief is a complicated thing. For those directly affected by 9/11 - friends and family -...
Too Busy for Coffee, But Not For a Funeral
Jan 09, 2012 by Victoria Noe
Metropolis Coffee HouseMy hangout since 2003“Enjoy the little things in life for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” - Antonio Smith Lisa Athan has a blog, Grief Speaks (you can also find her on Facebook). She wrote something that really resonated with me. It echoes those New Year’s resolutions we’re all struggling to keep right now.“I do find it fascinating that we, as busy people living such hectic lives, who pride ourselves on multi-tasking, can drop everything to attend a funeral, yet so long as the person is alive, we decline invitations for lunch or coffee because we’re too busy. ‘Perhaps another time,’ we say. We tend to assume that there will always be a...
Remembering Your Friends…In a Eulogy
Jan 06, 2012 by Victoria Noe
This week I said that we’d be looking at some of the many ways we can remember a friend who has died. One way is through words, specifically in their eulogy. I’ve been to too many funerals where the minister didn’t know the deceased at all, and that never fails to make me angry. What is the purpose of a eulogy? If the purpose is to make total strangers feel they knew that person, then in this re-post from June, Fr. Duffy succeeded. If he wanted us all to remember Fr. Judge for years to come, well, I think he succeeded there, too:I’ve never been called upon to give a eulogy for a friend. I wrote the eulogy a hospice...
A 2012 Plan for Grieving Your Friends
Jan 04, 2012 by Victoria Noe
9/11 Remembrance ribbons on the fence at St. Paul's ChapelNew YearClean SlateClear the DecksIf only…I’m not suggesting ignoring your grief. I’m not suggesting pretending you didn’t lose a friend. What I am suggesting is finding a way to channel that grief, finding a way to create something new and positive.One of the feelings most often felt when a friend dies is that we want to be sure they’re not forgotten.So maybe we visit the cemetery, or post on their memorial Facebook page.But how about taking that a step further? How about actively doing something to remember them?Carol Demitz was a classmate of mine. We didn’t travel in the same circles, but we had classes together in our small Catholic girls high...
New Year’s Resolutions…About Friend Grief?
Jan 02, 2012 by Victoria Noe
Today is the second day of 2012. Have you broken any New Year’s resolutions yet?We start the year with such good intentions: lose weight, exercise more, save money, travel. We expect that it will be easy to keep them.Then something happens. We realize just how hard it is to keep those resolutions. We fall off the wagon once, and decide we’ve failed. So we give up. And it’s not February yet. Pathetic, isn’t it?But I would propose that you go ahead and make New Year’s resolutions about friend grief.1. Don’t ignore your grief. It will bite you in the butt when you least expect it.2. Don’t keep your grief bottled up inside. Share it with a therapist, in a group,...
Friend Grief and Closure for 2011
Dec 30, 2011 by Victoria Noe
In my last blog post of this amazing year, I thought I’d revisit a topic that came up a few months ago. Last May, after the death of Osama bin Laden, I wrote about what I called “the myth of closure”. It’s supposed to be something you aspire to, but it often feels just out of reach: because it may never be possible.“Closure: the sense of finality and coming to terms with an experience, felt or experienced over time.” – Encarta Dictionary“Closure” is a word frequently invoked in grief-related literature. Events are said to bring “closure” to people who grieve: discovery of remains, burial, 1st anniversaries, etc.But the news of the death of Osama bin Laden may only be initially...
Friend Grief and Laughter
Dec 28, 2011 by Victoria Noe
This post originally appeared last March, about one of my favorite TV series, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Although something very tragic had happened, the resulting humor is something we can all identify with - for better or worse.Laughing at funerals is generally frowned upon (Irish wakes notwithstanding).People are expected to act a certain way: maybe not grief-stricken, but at least respectful of those who are and the person who has died. You get a lot of dirty looks if you’re the only one laughing.In recent years, there has been a movement to make wakes and funerals and memorial services more of a celebration of life. Laughing – in the context of shared memories – has become appropriate. Considered by...
Friend Grief and the Holidays
Dec 26, 2011 by Victoria Noe
I wasn’t going to write about grief and the holidays. There’s a lot out there already, by people much more knowledgeable than myself. But there’s not a lot out there about dealing with friend grief during the holidays. Is it different? Is grief just…grief?The thing that complicates friend grief at this time of year is the same thing that makes the holidays - at least theoretically - great: family.We are in the midst of several holidays - Thanksgiving (in the U.S.), Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day - that are family/romance oriented. These holidays are defined by family gatherings and traditions.Many of us take time during these holidays to remember family members who are no longer with us. In...
Friend Grief and "The Concert for George"
Dec 23, 2011 by Victoria Noe
This post originally appeared in February, but I’m quite partial to the documentary of this concert. At first I was drawn to it because I’m a huge fan of George Harrison. But as I watched the special on PBS, I became more and more entranced by the commentary from Eric Clapton and others. You’ll see why:“All I wanted to do was really share our love for George and his music with the people. I need to do this for him, but it’s for me most of all – I need to be able to express my grief in this sort of way.” – Eric ClaptonHow do we memorialize our friends? How do we show the world how much that person...
Your Own Personal "Big Chill" Moment
Dec 21, 2011 by Victoria Noe
This post originally appeared in February. I think it’s a good reminder to not wait until it’s too late to re-connect or keep touch with our friends. The holidays are a perfect excuse, don’t you think?Karen: “You'll never get this many people to come to my funeral.”Michael: “Oh, Karen, I'll come. And, you know... I'll bring a date.”You’re going about your day – conference calls, grocery shopping, carpool – when you get a call, a text, maybe an email with the subject line “sad news”. Someone you know – a friend – has died. And the world stops.It happens to us all eventually. The iconic film about this experience is The Big Chill, the 1983 film about a group of...
Why We Miss Our Friends During the Holidays
Dec 19, 2011 by Victoria Noe
We are in the final stretch now, before Hanukkah and Christmas. Many of us are running on adrenaline as we race to get everything bought, wrapped, cooked, served, addressed and mailed. We wonder sometimes why we’re making ourselves crazy for festivities that are over so quickly.We do it because…well, we’ve always done it, or we’ve let it get out of control. We do it for our families. We do it for the kids. And possibly, we’ll be able to stop and remember the true meaning of the holidays.Yes, the holidays are about family, no doubt about it. Friends are often pushed aside (family comes first).I remember coming home for Christmas or Thanksgiving and spending more time with my friends than...
No One Expects Their Friends to Die
Dec 16, 2011 by Victoria Noe
I’m reposting again, a blog entry from last March, originally titled “Let’s Be Careful Out There”.Last night I had dinner with a few of the classmates referred to here. Most of us hadn’t gotten together in over a year, at our last reunion. But thanks to one persistent woman, there were about 20 of us, laughing and catching up. It was, again, as if no time had passed. We noted several who weren’t there: one woman whose mother died a few days ago, another whose husband is ill, still another who has MS. We’re at the age when we get paranoid when someone’s a no-show.So for all our friends, enjoy:At the end of the morning roll call on the 80’s...
Friend Grief and Guilt - “My Name is Alex”
Dec 14, 2011 by Victoria Noe
This blog post originally appeared last February, titled “My Name is Alex”. I think it speaks to another one of those uncomfortable emotions that can complicate grief: guilt. Sometimes there’s just no logical reason why one person lives and another dies. But that doesn’t make us feel any better. It didn’t help Alex, either.Family Ties was a successful sitcom in that ran on CBS from 1982-1989 A family led by parents who’d been hippies in the ‘60’s included one son, a conservative Republican, played by Michael J. Fox.Arguably its most famous story is “My Name is Alex” from the fifth season. Performed live in two back-to-back episodes, the second with no commercial breaks, it opens with the Keaton parents and...
When Your Friend is Trashed in the Press
Dec 12, 2011 by Victoria Noe
The combination of anger and grief stirred up a lot of interest here recently. It comes up occasionally in my book. Honestly, it could probably be a book all on its own. You’re expected to be sad when a friend dies. But angry, too?You’re grieving…maybe feeling guilty…and now you realize that the world has a completely distorted view of your friend.Mike Pfeifer and Cliff Kearney were held at gunpoint by three masked men who broke into their home. While Kearney was beaten, one of the robbers fired his sawed-off shotgun to intimidate Pfeifer. When the weapon was pointed at Kearney, Pfeifer grabbed the barrel, and was shot multiple times. The burglars ran, but by the time paramedics arrived, it was...
