Jan Groft's Blog
February 5, 2016
Connecting
An Alzheimer’s patient I visited today had no idea it was her 94th birthday or who had sent the flowers and balloons decorating her room. A photo on her dresser showed a younger version of herself laughing and sitting on a gentleman’s lap. When I asked if the man in the picture was her husband, she didn’t know. Nor did she remember that she’d graduated from an Ivy League college, although she said something about a closet there and then trailed off in the middle of a sentence.
A Frank Sinatra CD sat near a boom box and her photos.
“I love Frank Sinatra,” I said.
“I love Frank Sinatra, too,” she said.
“Why don’t we let Frank help us celebrate your birthday?” I offered.
She nodded, and I popped the CD into the boom box. Old Blue Eyes belted out “That’s Life,” and I stooped down in front of her wheelchair and took her hand.
“Happy birthday,” I said.
She smiled and swayed from side to side with the music, filling me with gratitude for the reminder that there is always something that connects each of us to another. https.www.jangroft.com
A Frank Sinatra CD sat near a boom box and her photos.
“I love Frank Sinatra,” I said.
“I love Frank Sinatra, too,” she said.
“Why don’t we let Frank help us celebrate your birthday?” I offered.
She nodded, and I popped the CD into the boom box. Old Blue Eyes belted out “That’s Life,” and I stooped down in front of her wheelchair and took her hand.
“Happy birthday,” I said.
She smiled and swayed from side to side with the music, filling me with gratitude for the reminder that there is always something that connects each of us to another. https.www.jangroft.com
April 3, 2010
Hope & Healing
The day before Easter. God is so masterful at delivering hope and healing at times that are unimaginable. A dear friend's wife died two days ago. I visited her last week and even though she slept throughout the visit, an occasional bubble making its way through the oxygen tube hooked to her nose, we took in the sunshine streaming through the sliding glass door, the peacefulness. I sang an old African spiritual. The room was filled with drawings from the grandkids, family photos and cards, a love poem from her husband. A note written by her daughter and pinned to the wall asked for gentleness from caregivers and to keep her mother in her own fresh nightgowns, located in the top dresser drawer. There was no mistaking how well she was being taken care of. I hope the knowledge that they surrounded their cherished wife and mother with this kind of warmth, not only at the end but throughout their life together, brings peace to this loving family.
Happy Easter and Happy Passover, dear friends.
Happy Easter and Happy Passover, dear friends.
February 1, 2010
Relentless grief
Grief always seems to be sneaking in the back door. Yesterday as I was leaving church, a designer I used to work with signaled to tell me that another former colleague (our age, late 50s) had died suddenly of a heart attack the day before. My best friend's father recently had a stroke and, as he struggles through rehab, her mother, I learned this morning, has been hospitalized with an apparent heart attack. Another dear friend's wife is dying. Such deep, deep sadness. As I pray for these people I love, I ask that God will bring healing as only God can do, revealing grace somehow in the heart-wrenching folds of loss and grief.
A woman approached me recently after one of my readings. She shared her understanding that hearing is often the last faculty to leave a dying person. So at her loved one's deathbed, she telephoned friends and family, held the telephone to his ear and had others recall the things they loved and cherished about him. Such a loving act, and so healing for all of them.
A woman approached me recently after one of my readings. She shared her understanding that hearing is often the last faculty to leave a dying person. So at her loved one's deathbed, she telephoned friends and family, held the telephone to his ear and had others recall the things they loved and cherished about him. Such a loving act, and so healing for all of them.
January 14, 2010
Technology meets matters of the heart.
Had a great podcast interview with Ron at iPressRoom yesterday. The day before, I didn't even know what a podcast is.
I am on a fast track (well, fast for me, maybe not for most people), learning all this new technology. Sometimes there seems to be this strange dichotomy between the speed of the internet and the slow decline of people like my husband's Aunt Lorrie who recently suffered a stroke and lies in a stupor in a local hospital bed. But if we can use cyberspace to send out prayer requests, for Aunt Lorrie for example, I can see exactly how technology meshes with matters of the heart.
I am on a fast track (well, fast for me, maybe not for most people), learning all this new technology. Sometimes there seems to be this strange dichotomy between the speed of the internet and the slow decline of people like my husband's Aunt Lorrie who recently suffered a stroke and lies in a stupor in a local hospital bed. But if we can use cyberspace to send out prayer requests, for Aunt Lorrie for example, I can see exactly how technology meshes with matters of the heart.
January 12, 2010
Wonder of wonders
Who would have guessed? After 58 years of life (soon to be 59), I am blogging. Is anybody out there? I hope the airwaves of cyberspace will carry my immense sense of gratitude to the amazing people who entrusted me with their stories for my new book, AS WE GRIEVE.
I have learned, through my own loss experiences, and through those of others, that as upside down and inside out as it may seem, tucked inside the folds of grief are moments of grace. It is such an honor to be able to pass these stories along to you, dear readers.
I hope you'll check out the book at http://www.aswegrieve.com or visit my Jan Groft, Author Facebook Fan Page or wonder of wonders, find me on Twitter. Let's see if all the buzz about the social media connecting authors with readers is true. I limp along, but to get this book into the hands of those who might find it of help, anything!
I have learned, through my own loss experiences, and through those of others, that as upside down and inside out as it may seem, tucked inside the folds of grief are moments of grace. It is such an honor to be able to pass these stories along to you, dear readers.
I hope you'll check out the book at http://www.aswegrieve.com or visit my Jan Groft, Author Facebook Fan Page or wonder of wonders, find me on Twitter. Let's see if all the buzz about the social media connecting authors with readers is true. I limp along, but to get this book into the hands of those who might find it of help, anything!
