Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: grieving process

  • Bill’s legacy

    Adam O. GoldsteinNorth Carolina, USA Details have been changed to protect patient confidentiality. Bill, a dentist and a patient of mine, died in his sleep at age 52. I did not know Bill as well as many patients, as we had only seen each other four times over five months, and he had few apparent…

  • Campaigning for Craig: The healing power of a legacy T-shirt

    Nancy GershmanChicago, Illinois, United States Sometimes the elephant in the room is a painful irony, like the story of Craig, a 25-year-old flying instructor who died in his aircraft. As parents we think, “Oh, if only we’d talked him out of flying lessons!” But as bereavement professionals, we see both sides: a young adult doing…