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If you have experienced the death of a loved one in the past ten years and are over eighteen years old, we invite you to participate in a brief online study of the ways that individuals make sense of and find meaning in loss. All participants will be entered in a raffle to win one of two $50 gift certificates to Amazon.com.

Your participation will contribute to a better understanding of grief and loss. The researchers, Dr. Brian Vandenberg, and Rachel Hibberd, are most grateful for your time and help in completing the study. If you have any questions, please e-mail rhibberd@umsl.edu. The study has been approved by the Institutional Review board of the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

 

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Book Corner

How Sweet It Is [Paperback]

51SgWG-U3rL._SL160_AA160_Deena Livingston leaves behind a broken romance and her chef job in Atlanta to spend time at her grandfather's cabin in the mountains of North Carolina. But her grandfather has an odd request: he wants Deena to teach cooking classes to the ragtag group of middle-schoolers who attend the local afterschool program, The Center. Reluctantly, Deena agrees, but how is she supposed to convince these kids that cooking at home is better than eating at McDonalds? And after all she went through in Atlanta, why is she attracted to Zack, the social worker at The Center? Can a Dr. Seuss-quoting plumber, a curly-haired basketball player, and a group of middle-schoolers change Deena's outlook on life?

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Funeral Wreaths

01June2006
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Donna Hill

a wedding and two funerals

It’s that time of year again
between birthdays
a month apart
mine and yours

mine, I still wait for that
phone call
no matter where you were
who you were with
you’d call to wish your daughter
happy birthday
and I the same for you

I remember our wedding
two dads
one putting me in the car
at home
you taking me out
walking me down the aisle

laughing as you told us about
knocking on doors that morning
for someone who could
tie your tie
it had been so long

we visited your mom that day
wedding party, pictures and all
descending upon extended care
four months later she died

as I sat there beside her
looking into her eyes
whispering in her ear
that she was going to be
a great grandma

a year later we buried you too
in that same suit
a wedding and two funerals
another stranger
tying your tie

I was home with a five month old baby
when Don came home from
work early, 10 am
chain reaction
she called your nephew
he called mom
she called Don

forty six years old
you died that night in your sleep
the same evening I had
called to say hello
but you were out
bingo calling for the seniors

twenty years old
I still took control
made the calls
planned the funeral
picked out your casket
granite headstone
fought with human resources to
help cover the costs

and fourteen years later
finally
I write about it
a wedding and two funerals

About the author: Donna lives in British Columbia, Canada with her three sons. She has been seriously writing poetry for two years now, drawing much of her writing style for realism from life around her, her family, and her work as a child educator. Donna’s poems have appeared in print by One Dog Press, and Sex in Public out of CA., Poems Niederngrasse from Switzerland and Peshekee River, in MI. They have also been published online by a number of literary webzines, including Thunder Sandwich, Mind Fire Journal, the HOLD, Writer’s Choice, Disquieting Muses, Rogue Scholars - East Village, Horsethief’s Journal, Clean Sheets, Mind Caviar, and Comrades.

Copyright © 1999 by Donna Hill. All rights reserved.

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