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My wife of 28 years at the age of 55 recently passed away.
Loss & Grief | Last Active: Sep 28 8:12pm | Replies (17)Comment receiving replies
Thank you for sharing Steve and your story. Laurel would not want all this attention had she still been here beside me today.... but I know deep down, she understands and supports me in any way to help guide me to some understanding and comfort.
Laurel's faith was much more deeper than mine, but she was helping me 🙂 For many many years, we couldn't really go to Church (she sang in the choir - a voice of an angel too). She missed it, but the priorities changed to very involved caregiving and our son's well-being. The Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville - Laurel had a very good relationship with the Catholic Chaplain Father Raymond. I am very grateful to Father Raymond for the years he spent with Laurel, counselling her and praying together. I believe that helped Laurel a lot with things she began questioning - the horrible "WHAT IF'S". I have started attending mass again and will be receiving some counselling from our wonderful Deacon for starters.
I am glad when Steve passed away, you both were at peace. 44 years is just amazing 🙂 I was very blessed with our relationship for just over 30 years. It would take a novel to truly explain our journey but it's a beautiful one, with not so joyous times!
We were a young couple still - with many plans, and memories to still create together. I know Laurel believed she would be with me always, guide me and our son, love unconditionally forever. I need to find that path myself to believe what Laurel believed in, and we're close 🙂 That will help ease the unbearable pain and uncontrollable mind/emotions.
I will listen to that song. I have had some friends who shared Laurel's faith share some songs and although it usually brings me to tears, the tears are always from those beautiful memories 🙂
I hope you have a great evening, and thank you for taking the time to share with me. It means more than you know.
Terry
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@misterelbows
Your love for Laurel is clearly alive in your writing. I do hope your son will feel the same depth of love and care you have for his mother. The paths that God takes us often is unclear, and I believe the support you get from the Deacon will bless you well. Psalm 91 is one of the chapters I find helpful. It moves my focus onto the God that created us. It reminds me of the promises of peace that is more than our human minds can comprehend. And, it strengthens my trust in God, the same God Laurel trusted. Faith is about trust in something we don't see physically.
I'm a certified peer & family specialist for people experiencing mental health and/or substance use disorders. Spirituality is one of the areas in each of our wellness that impacts our capacity to endure our struggles. My experience in mental health challenges and learning about trauma has been ways I found in helping others. Unless we can have faith in something higher than ourselves, we find life so much more difficult to handle. I had to learn to accept this truth. When others realized and became aware of the need to strengthen their spirituality, they had an additional tool to fight their battles. Our circle of wellness comprises of 8 areas that impact everyone's lives. You can google the 8 dimensions of wellness if you wish. I just know that unless we have an awareness of those dimensions, something like the lack of spirituality can affect how the other dimensions of wellness looks like. So, your search for that spirituality that Laurel had is wonderful. I will hold you in prayer that you, Terry, will indeed understand how she was able to be a servant of God while she endured pain. Many blessings for you today and hugs to both you and your son.
Donna Mae