EastMinster-Bone Knowing-Are you losing your trusted pet due to age or illness?

Jennifer Allen Books.com will be speaking about everything from Knowing something down to your bones and the impact that Anticipatory Grief has on us humans when we know our pet is in it's last months, days, hours. I was meant to sit next to Mary Sue on my plane back to CA.she shared about her nurse friend whose baby was born just before the baby's father died of prostate ca. She's now creating conscious communities that support people when they are going through these kinds of experiences. Here's what she writes about Anticipatory Grief: It is grief that can be experienced by either or both the person with a life-threatening condition and those close to him/her. It is often unsupported and misunderstood because the ill person is still living. It is grief that happens along the way and includes loss of what was, losses that happen as the illness progresses and the loss of a potential future with the person. It doesn't replace grief occurring after a person dies, but can diminish the shock and intensity (as experienced with unexpected loss); leaving one better access to their coping skills. It doesn't necessarily happen because one has knowledge of an impending death. It challenges the person dying and those close to him/her to simultaneously remain connected and begin to let go – to hold hope and grief at the same time.