The Alive at The Bluebird concert series is back for its 18th year! This concert series will help unsung heroes in Middle Tennessee: people facing the end of life, and their families who love them.

More than 70 artists are participating again this year, people who have written songs recorded by some of the biggest names in country music! Together with The Bluebird Cafe, they’ll donate concert proceeds to help Alive Hospice provide hospice care and grief support services for ALL who need them, regardless of insurance status and ability to pay.

Who are YOU coming to see at The Bluebird?

Ruth Williams

Last night, Joannie Rochette skated an amazing program in the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. Under ordinary circumstances, no one would be surprised by the talented Canadian’s performance. But this time, it was extraordinary! Not due to her triple-this or triple-that, but due to her ability to offer a lovely program as a gift to her mother, who was so abruptly taken from her by a heart attack on Sunday, just two days earlier.

Could any of us be focused enough to continue as she did? We might quickly respond, “Absolutely not!” However, many individuals who have recently suffered a tragic loss have gone ahead and walked through a graduation ceremony, a wedding, a final exam… We may not be Olympic skaters, but sometimes it’s surprising just what we can pull off in a crisis.

Joannie Rochette was an only child. She and her mother were extremely close. I get that. My daughter (an “only”) and I are very close. Could she go on with a big event in her life – without me? Right now, my own daughter’s “Olympic event” on the horizon is her wedding. Somehow, I believe she could go through with her wedding, even if I were to leave her physically. Why? Because love goes so deep. And love is the sustaining force we can call upon in a crisis.

Her mother, Thérèse, was so proud of her daughter, Joannie. I believe that love and connection stretches beyond the physical. It can and will carry us through … whatever is in front of us.

Grief can seem crushing in moments. But in other moments, love can carry us, elevating us to new heights, allowing us to reach beyond what we could even imagine. Way to go, Joannie! You are being caressed and held up by your mom. We can even feel it.

Ruth Williams is a counselor with Alive Grief Support Services, the bereavement support program of Alive Hospice.

Songwriters Cory Batten and Kent       Blazy playing in Studio C at Nashville       Public Radio.

Two of this year’s Alive at The Bluebird songwriters and Alive Hospice’s own Jeanna Kinnebrew will be featured this weekend on Nashville Public Radio. One segment of WPLN 90.3 FM’s “Studio C” program will showcase the music of songwriters Kent Blazy and Cory Batten, and Alive Hospice Annual Fund Manager Jeanna Kinnebrew will talk about the mission of Alive Hospice and the Alive at The Bluebird concert series.

“Studio C” will air on 90.3 FM on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. and again on Tuesday evening at 8:07 p.m. be sure to tune in!

Ruth Williams

This has been a period of time where grief has been a dominant story in the media on a daily basis. It has been the headlining news due to the combined deaths of several celebrities who had fans across the globe.

Seeing tearful faces and stunned expressions in such a public arena accentuates grief’s universal theme. Three died within a day of one another: one with a very publicly-viewed course of cancer, another perhaps of “old age,” and a third of an unexpected heart attack. Just this weekend, a prominent Nashville sports figure was tragically murdered.

We all feel our grief. We all express it in our own, unique way. Some of us may cry or even sob when we lose someone who is close to us. When public figures die, sometimes we do experience authentic loss. Perhaps it’s because we shared in their lives (real or imagined). Perhaps it’s because their loss is somehow symbolic of the more private losses in our own lives.

For me, when I allow myself to experience sadness of the loss of public figures, I also remind myself to grieve the loss of life worldwide from war, poverty, natural disasters, and all the things that often are not in the daily headlines. And then I come back to my own little neighborhood and community and, once again, remember and honor those who have died – from old age, from unexpected or unforeseen causes, from horrific diseases, or from serving our country in the armed forces.

And if we are all able to grieve the tremendous losses throughout the ages together, perhaps it will help us begin to heal as individuals, as a nation, and as a world.

Ruth Williams is a counselor with Alive Grief Support Services, the bereavement support program of Alive Hospice.

Bob and Judy Fisher’s Life is a Gift: Inspiration from the Soon Departed was greeted enthusiastically upon its release last year. As mentioned previously on this blog, Life is a Gift captured the wisdom of 104 Alive Hospice patients and their thoughts on what really matters in life.

Terminal illness, the end of life, and grief are also the topics of several other books that have been published this year, both in the realms of nonfiction and fiction. Such interest in these topics are reminders that none of us are alone in the face of a terminal illness and/or loss, and that there are many opportunities for learning from others as we face these experiences ourselves.

Waiting Room: A Memoir (Gabrielle Carey; Scribe Publications, April 2009) – Australian author Gabrielle Carey describes the poignant journey through her mother’s last months of life. From the publisher: “In this sharp and honest memoir, we see what it is that families, in all their complex dynamics, can give to each other, and just what they stand to gain when they lay down their arms and let each other in.”

Comfort: A Journey Through Grief (Ann Hood; W.W. Norton & Company, May 2009) – After the sudden death of her 5-year-old daughter Grace, author Ann Hood is left to pick up the pieces of her life. From the publisher: “Hood traces her descent into grief and reveals how she found comfort and hope again…”

Hello Goodbye: A Novel (Emily Chenoweth; Random House, May 2009) – Chenoweth writes of a family’s last trip together following wife and mother Helen Hansen’s diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor. From the publisher: “Heartbreaking and luminous, Hello Goodbye deftly explores a family’s struggle with love and loss, as a summer vacation becomes an occasion for awakening rather than farewell, and life inevitably blossoms in the face of death.”

Coming up: Last Acts: Discovering Possibilities and Opportunities at the End of Life (David J. Casarett, M.D.; Simon & Schuster, 2010) – Last Acts was described in a recent CNN.com article as an examination of the choices people make in the face of a limited life expectancy. The book’s author, Dr. David J. Casarett, is an associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, a Fellow of the Institute on Aging, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Films like the classic Mary Poppins may be categorized as children’s movies, but there’s an awful lot adults can learn from them. Take, for instance, the scene with dear old Uncle Albert, Mary Poppins and Bert. It’s easy to dismiss the scene as one full of silliness because of the near-constant giggling, but the laugher’s the point. It makes Uncle Albert feel good. So good, in fact, that he floats up to the ceiling with each chuckle.

Alive Hospice RN Ossie Jefferson-Corley pictured at a previous laughter workshop.

A not-so-subtle metaphor? Laughter can lift one’s spirits. And we’ve all heard that laughter is a powerful medicine. Alive Hospice’s Ossie Jefferson-Corley, a hospice nurse and a certified laughter leader, knows this all too well.

Ossie had a group of Alive Hospice coworkers roaring with laughter just recently at a staff gathering. She leads the occasional laughter workshop at Alive Hospice to encourage her colleagues to take time to let loose and enjoy the benefits of laughter. Hospice caregivers are often reminded that taking care of themselves is an essential part of taking care of others. Allowing oneself to laugh is one more way to do just that.

“We work hard physically and mentally,” Ossie said. “Research shows that laughter does several things. It strengthens the immune system. It improves breathing, arterial blood flow, digestion, and sleep. It also burns calories.”

Researchers at the Loma Linda School of Medicine have weighed in on the benefits of laughter and, in a nutshell, have found that it’s a great way to reduce stress.

No matter your role in life, whether hospice caregiver, hospital ER doc or nurse, primary caregiver for a loved one with a serious illness, or someone who’s having a bad day (as we’re all prone to do from time to time), take a cue from Ossie and Uncle Albert: Laugh out loud!