Police Officers Driving While Under the Influence...of Grief
Today, January 20, 2011 was the funeral for a Lakewood, NJ police officer who was killed while in the line of duty. My daughter and I were down in Toms River, a few miles south of Lakewood, for the day visiting my mom's 82 year old cousin, who has lung cancer, and is one of the most inspirational woman I know with an amazing sense of humor and compassion for people. Since I am a grief counselor and grief educator, grief and loss are probably on my mind a lot more than most. I was supposed to visit my cousin tomorrow but with snow in the forecast I decided to see her today as I didn't want to cancel again due to snow. Hence I don't know how much longer she will be alive. She is my mom's only living relative so I try to see her as often as I can. My mother died 17 years ago, also from lung cancer, and I have learned not to take anyone's life for granted, knowing fully well that there is no guarantee that when we say goodbye in the morning to our family members, that w...