by Dr. Neill Neill

On October 23 I posted A Hard Personal Lesson in Acceptance , in which I explained that my son Richard is dying and I’m getting a difficult lesson.

Two weeks have passed and I have spent the last two days with Richard. He requires a lot more pain medication now. He has deteriorated considerably in the past month. He was frail but mentally sharp a month ago. Yesterday he was fragile, but mentally absent  much of the time. Fortunately, the absences were punctuated by periods of lucidity.

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by Dr. Neill Neill, Registered Psychologist 

Again and again I hear from people who are having difficulty with a new relationship in which one of the parties has recently been in a relationship which ended. 

The ending may have come through the death of a partner or a separation.  I define "recently" as during the past year or two. In either case a multitude of emotions will be surfacing.  In either case there will be grief, fear, resentment and anger before it’s over.

The one seeking help or advice is sometimes the person recently bereaved or separated, and sometimes the person who has entered a relationship with someone recently bereaved or separated.

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By Dr. Neill Neill, Registered Psychologist

There have been some deeply personal things going on in my life that during the past few weeks have made me feel at times like my life is on hold.

My son is gravely ill.

My firstborn son, Richard, is gravely ill at age 41. He’s in the capable loving care of his wife, Tracey. He is receiving excellent daily palliative care from an outside support team. But he lives 3000 miles from where I live.

My wife Eileen and I visited him in early October when it appeared he had only days to live. He has rallied somewhat, and I’m planning another trip within the next two weeks. At this point he thinks he will make it until my next visit.

And that is why I have this feeling of being on hold.

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by Dr. Neill Neill, Registered Psychologist

Impatience with your wife or husband can bring you a mountain of grief.  Patience facilitates personal insights and growth. A couple of examples of impatience are in order.

You say "I stopped for coffee after I did the banking,"  and your spouse replies, "Why?  There’s coffee here."

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by Dr. Neill Neill, Registered Psychologogist

Grieving from loss touches all of us. It seems to intensify for many during the holidays, because there are so many memories of the past that was. 

Human beings who experience loss must grieve.  We must do that cleansing. The cycle of grieving and recovery from loss is a normal psychological/spiritual human process. We try to interfere with it at our peril.

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