The Bereavement site and newsletter has a new editor.

My name is Shirley McGillivray and I am a New Zealander who was happily married to my Australian husband for almost 25 years before the end of 2006 when he passed away after a short battle with leukaemia leaving our three sons and I to learn how to live our lives again.

A year later I lost my mother.

I am passionate in helping people understand that there is no wrong way to grieve. People get so caught up in right and wrong they don´t give themselves time, and this is often made worse by friends and family who, while wanting the best for their loved one, inadvertently increase the feeling of hopelessness and pressure to move forward.

Our children were 8, 19 and 21 when my husband passed away so I have experience with helping children of different ages to understand and cope with the loss of someone very dear to them.

I have 23 years experience working in a nursing home and often, sometimes on a weekly basis, deal with people who are dying and help support their relatives and friends.

For so many people death is a subject to be avoided, but while it is a sad, extremely difficult time in our lives, it is also a part of living and something we should be more comfortable and open talking about.

Here's the latest article from the Bereavement site at BellaOnline.com.

How Long Should I Grieve?
It can feel like we will never get over the death of a loved one - but how do we know when it is time to move forward?

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art25119.asp

Please visit Bereavement.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Bereavement.

To participate in free, online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Bereavement located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=413

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message.

Please feel free to pass this message along to family and friends.

Shirley McGillivray, Bereavement Editor
http://Bereavement.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com