Lola Bute: ‘I wouldn’t wish the pain of grief on my worst enemy’
In the March of 2020, just before the country was plunged into lockdown, Lola Bute was already in turmoil; grieving her boyfriend, Kai Schachter, who had taken…
The constant feeling of something missing: What it’s like to be a lone twin
All of this trauma was just brushed over, like everything was in those days. I was born in 1948, just after the war, and people were so…
Tom Watson: How my father’s death almost brought my Type 2 diabetes back
It had been a relief to leave the artery-hardening stress of dealing with the likes of trades unionist Len McCluskey. Yet when I stood down as an…
The pandemic has taught us the value of the memorial
I count myself blessed that, thanks to the flexibility and humanity of the nursing home staff, I was able to keep the vigil and be with my…
What grief really does to your brain – and how it changes it forever
When we meet “the One,” there truly is chemistry. “The neurochemistry in our brain and our body stimulates, and is stimulated by, falling in love,” notes O’Connor….
Kate Rothschild on life after her daughter’s death: ‘Sometimes I wonder if I’ve even really accepted it’
On the morning of 8 July, 2019, Kate Rothschild woke up feeling ‘in a slightly down mood’. It was the 23rd anniversary of the passing of her…
When my father died, I quit my job and moved to France – here’s what I learnt
Dad retired and started French classes. His speaking left much to be desired, but he became a prolific reader of French literature, and he’d bore me with…
Why I regularly talk to my children about death – and so should you
Encouraging my children to talk about and think about death feels like an important thing to teach them, just as communicating with them about war and conflict…
Dear Richard Madeley: ‘I am a 64-year-old widower: how did I come to be dating a 28-year-old man?’
Dear Richard, My dear wife died two years ago. We had 40 blissful years together. We could not have children, so we invested all our time in…
Memorial, demolition or vertical forest: the fight for the future of Grenfell Tower
The idea originated in part from Marcio Gomes, 42, an IT technician who lived for a decade on the 21st floor of Grenfell with his wife, Andreia,…
After Life, series 3, review: Ricky Gervais’s grief-com has the emotional depth of a Post-It note
The third and final series of Ricky Gervais’s wildly popular grief-com After Life (Netflix) begins superbly. As ever, the episode starts with an old home video of…
Dear Richard: ‘Six months on from my wife’s death, I’m still pole-axed by grief’
Dear Richard, My world is lost. My wife of more than 50 years died in June. Since then I’ve been in hell. Everyone has been so caring…
Dear Richard: ‘I’m still grieving for my husband, but my children want me to celebrate’
Dear Richard, My husband died shortly after Christmas last year. It wasn’t Covid-19 but the pressures on the NHS arising from the pandemic did impact on the…
For the first time ever, I don’t want Christmas to come
I am standing in front of the rows of Christmas cards with a feeling of rising panic. I’m willing myself to select one as I inwardly list…
Janet Ellis: ‘My husband’s cancer wasn’t curable – we knew we wouldn’t be silver-haired together’
There is something a little disconcerting, but terribly moving, about Janet’s ability to talk so openly about her loss. She is, she says, incredibly grateful that she…
‘I felt I had nothing to live for until my dog Rosie came into my life’
“At first she cried and cried,” Sue says. “But as the days went on the crying lessened, and I could see she was settling. After 10 days…