One word I had throughout the first year and a half of my mother's death was 'unmoored.' I felt that I had no anchor, that I had no home in the world.

Many grievers experience intense yearning or longing after a death - more than they experience, say, denial.

One of the things about grief is that it can bring a deeper perspective into your life; in the end, it has, for me, though it's also brought sorrow.

I believe in the importance of individuality, but in the midst of grief I also find myself wanting connection - wanting to be reminded that the sadness I feel is not just mine but ours.

Funerals cost so much money, and are likely to be an additional source of stress in this recession - it's sad that we don't have a more humane, less commercialized way to approach burial.

Many Americans don't mourn in public anymore - we don't wear black, we don't beat our chests and wail.

Be patient with yourself. Don't make the loss harder by thinking you should be a certain way, or have bounced back, etc.