Free Republic

Within hours of the massacre of more than 30 people at Virginia Tech University, the president of the university issued his first statement on the evil that had just engulfed the college campus and concluded with this: "We're making plans for a convocation tomorrow at noon in Cassell Coliseum for the university to come together to begin the healing process from this terrible tragedy." In this photo provided by the Collegiate Times, ambulances wait on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va., following multiple shootings, Monday, April 16, 2007. At least 30 people have been reported killed. (AP Photo/Collegiate Times)...

Up to 25 percent of people in whom psychiatrists would currently diagnose depression may only be reacting normally to stressful events such as a divorce or losing a job, according to a new analysis that reexamined how the standard diagnostic criteria are used. ...Diagnoses are currently made on the basis of a constellation of symptoms that include sadness, fatigue, insomnia and suicidal thoughts. The diagnostic manual used by doctors says that anyone who has at least five such symptoms for as little as two weeks may be clinically depressed. Only in the case of someone grieving over the death of...

I write this to say goodbye for now to my wife of 50 years: a sweet woman we lovingly nicknamed "Great Granny Grumbles".

Dear FReepers, I need your prayers tonight. My 14 year old son was killed in a traffic accident today. Please pray for us.

<p>He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said. It is understood he was killed by a sting-ray barb that went through his chest.</p> <p>He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary and that's when it occured.</p>

<p>SHOCKED members of the public have begun laying flowers in memory of Steve Irwin at his family's animal park, Australia Zoo, north of Brisbane.</p> <p>Meanwhile, radio networks in Brisbane were jammed by callers this afternoon who could not believe the Crocodile Hunter was dead.</p>

Last night my son's 15 year old friend was struck and killed by lightening. Tyler was such a good boy, an exceptional athlete, an honor student and from such a wonderful family. He was the workhorse, the leader in deeds and behavior. Needless to say the kids are devastated. They have been together forever, it seems. We are all devastated. No one in their wildest dreams would expect God to suddenly reach down and Tyler home. It broke my heart holding my 15 year old son as he was crying like a baby, a scene repeated over and over in...

ZAGREB (AFP) - Suma, a 45-year-old elephant and long-time resident of the Zagreb Zoo, was bereaved and inconsolable after her pachyderm partner of tens years died of cancer. Until she heard Mozart. "Suma became very depressed after her roomie Patna died in early May," head of Zagreb Zoo Mladen Anic told AFP on Thursday. "She was refusing to eat, became uncommunicative, showed all the signs of a serious depression." Then, by sheer accident, Suma's keepers discovered that the healing power of Mozart extends to the animal kingdom too. Earlier this month, the zoo the zoo organized a concert of classical...

Diagnosis 1. Symptoms "I'm not going to lose my mom," the young man's voice cracked with feeling. Beside him a half-dozen men and women in scrubs swarmed around the gurney rolling the woman into a cubicle in the I.C.U. The patient's face had a deathly pallor, her light brown hair was dark with sweat, her mouth was open and her chest heaved as she struggled to breathe. "We'll do our best," the doctor assured him, as he observed the woman and the monitors that showed just how sick she was. The young man, who was in his mid-20's, grabbed the...

Michael Berg, a Green Party candidate for Congress in Delaware, announced on national television that he regretted the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He didn’t blame al-Zarqawi for beheading an American contractor. The man responsible was President Bush — “the real terrorist.” Any other politician would have been vilified for saying that. But Berg, as the father of the American who was beheaded, belongs to a new politically invulnerable class. Arguing with someone in mourning just isn’t done — unless, of course, you are Ann Coulter and you have a new book to sell. She managed to offend everyone from...

Michelle Reed Cantley is part of a national network of photographers who take pictures of stillborn and dying babies. (Photo by Marvin Fong) Parents Cherish Photos of Stillborn Babies BY SUSAN GLASER Hours after Connie King gave birth to a stillborn boy, a stranger arrived, carrying a camera. Photographer Michelle Reed Cantley entered the room and quickly went to work, posing baby Nicholas on the couple's bed and in the arms of his parents, hoping to capture both his beauty and his peace.         Mark and Connie King of Hinckley Township, Ohio, embrace their stillborn son,...

Detroit Police Investigate DETROIT -- A 6-year-old boy's 911 call for help was thought to be a prank, but the call was real and the boy's mother died, according to WDIV-TV in Detroit. Robert Turner called 911 to get help for his mother, Sherel Turner, 46, whom he found lying unconscious on the kitchen floor of their Detroit apartment in February, the station reported. "Then I had felt her tummy. She wasn't breathing. Then I had called 911," said Robert. "I told them to send an emergency truck right now." 911 Operator: "911. What's the problem?" Robert: "My mom has...

Help Freepers; Some dear friends just lost their baby due to miscarriage. I want to help them but being a single male I am clueless. Help please!

From personal experience I know how, when a person has recently lost a loved one, the prospect of celebrating Christmas can be daunting. The joyfulness of the Christmas observance diminished, at best, and, in some instances, overwhelmed completely with a renewed sense of loss. The following was sent to me at a time I really needed it ~ I post it here in the hope it will also help to bring a special comfort to any here who may be grieving this Christmas.

Cindy Sheehan, left, waves to supporters after arriving at Waco Regional Airport in Waco, Texas, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2005. Sheehan has returned to Texas and her anti-war vigil outside President Bush's ranch near Crawford.

The liberal media is delighted with Cindy Sheehan. This is the woman who lost a son in Iraq and has camped outside President Bush's Crawford Ranch, intending to stay until the President speaks with her or returns to Washington. For the reporters waiting around in the dusty heat of West Texas, Ms. Sheehan is a godsend, a dramatic, heart-wrenching story that gives the media both a telegenic drama and another opportunity for indulging their dislike of Bush and the war in Iraq.

LONDON – In America and Britain, the grief of parents who lost sons or daughters in Iraq has become a potent political weapon - much more so than in other recent wars. In my view, these moms and dads have been badly let down by both sides of the war debate. The war's authors have offered little justification for the sacrifices made by loved sons and daughters in Iraq, which has allowed the families' raw grief to fester into public anger - and the war's opponents have sought cynically to exploit the families' sorrow for political ends. Currently, Cindy Sheehan...

Grief counselling a waste of time, say psychologists By Raj Persaud (Filed: 04/06/2005) Bereavement counselling - long considered by psychologists to be vital in recovering from the death of a loved one - may be a waste of time, according to a new study. The research challenges a belief that has been firmly held by psychoanalysts since Sigmund Freud proposed in 1917 that confronting feelings is the healthiest way to cope with bereavement. Many psychoanalysts have even argued that failure to express grief indicates - or may lead to - deep psychological problems. These days, bereavement counsellors often urge people...

12 Year Old Pitches No-Hitter,Day After Dad Is Buried Douglas Maher-All Headline News Reporter June 3,2005 3:15 EST BINGHAMTON,NY(AHN)- As Wayne Bonsell Jr. stood on the pitcher's mound at Booth Field on Wednesday night, he tried to remember all of the lessons his father had taught him. "Concentrate, take a deep breath before every pitch." This was not just another seasonal game for Wayne Jr.,this one held special meaning like no other before he took the mound. A day earlier, he had said goodbye to his father for the last time. Wayne Bonsell Sr., 39, was one of three workers...

In the months after her son took his own life in 2001, Rhunette Long began attending meetings of a self-help group for suicide survivors. At each session, attendees retold the specifics of their loved ones' deaths. Some had been coming and doing this for years. "They were sobbing, and they kept saying they were angry at the person who died," says Ms. Long, a 62-year-old retiree in Gilbert, S.C. Group members told Ms. Long that she'd need to go through her "anger phase," too. But she didn't feel angry at her son, and didn't believe that publicly reliving her loss...