All Blog Postings by Mary
Keep Family Close
Archive notice: This is a historical post from Mary’s years of blogging. Some older posts may mention products, courses or shop items that are no longer available, as Mary now focuses her time and energy on supporting widows inside her private Facebook community. The guidance and stories remain here as a free resource for widows.
For current ways to connect with Mary’s work, you can:
- Read her book on Amazon .
- Request to join her private Facebook group for widows .
Widows struggle to keep family close after the death of their loved ones. Loneliness is one of the hardest aspects of grief that we have to overcome.
Don’t wait for others to keep your family close for you. Take it upon yourself to make those phone calls, invite them to a meal and if they live away stay in touch online.
Set up a Facebook family page. First create a list with all the names of relatives you want to include and send them invitations to join. Start it off on a positive note by sending a photo of yourself and one of your favorite family stories. Have everyone post their birthday so that each family member can look forward to receiving family birthday wishes every year.
Everyone loves old fashion mail. Send a joke, riddle, recipes etc. in letters. Even “thinking of you” notes or postcards are fun to receive. A fun package of flower seeds is easy to mail and fun for them to plant.
One of my favorites is the idea of making a collage of photos of you and the family/grandchildren and turning it into a place mat by covering it with clear contact paper. It will bring smiles and memories to them even though you are miles away.
It’s hard on us grandparents when we don’t see our grandchildren. Try to bond with young children by recording yourself reading them a special children’s storybook. Send the book and recording to your grandchild.
If you have an older grandchild (that you don’t see as often as you are used to) make a scrapbook filled with photos of memories of them with you and their late grandfather.
For the fun of it let a family member know you are thinking of them by putting a note or inspirational saying inside a deflated balloon. Roll up your message and use a small funnel or large straw to slip it inside the balloon. Then mail it with a note: This small token is to let you know I’m thinking of you. Please blow this up and then pop it with love.
To keep close to family you need to be open to connecting with them, one heart at a time. Ask yourself: “Who of my family can use what I have to offer?” Then use your gifts of love to help them. When you focus on bringing others joy, magic happens. That’s how you move forward… and more important, how you lift yourself out of the deep dark hole of grief.