Everyone Grieves: Stories About Individuals with Disabilities and Grief

By Marc A. Markell Ph.D. CT

The book consists of seven stories about children, adolescents, and young adults with disabilities who experience a death loss. There are stories about individuals with cognitive disabilities, emotional and behavioral disabilities, autism, and physical disabilities. Each story includes ideas and rituals that care providers may be able to use to help others who are grieving.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Nov 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781490717258

Marc A. Markell Ph.D. CT

Marc A. Markell, PhD, lives with his spouse and son in South Minneapolis. He is a professor at St. Cloud State University in the Department of Special Education. His primary areas of interest at St. Cloud State include teaching literacy instruction for students with special needs, behavior management techniques, and grief and loss education. Marc is a certified thanatologist (the study of death, dying, and bereavement) through the Association for Death Education and Counseling, and certified in death and grief studies from Colorado State University through the Center for Loss and Life Transition. In addition to publishing in the area of grief and loss, he facilitates grief support groups and presents on grief and loss issues for a variety of audiences (colleges, foster care and adoption agencies, churches, hospices, and parent groups). He also teaches graduate-level courses on grief, loss, and death education, and he is a hospice volunteer. As a hospice volunteer, he works primarily with children and individuals with disabilities who have experienced a death loss of a significant person.

Book preview

Contents

You Will Always Be In My Heart

Grandma’s Jewel

Fluffy’s Bark

My Way Home

Smiling On A Train

Pops

As High As The Highest Mountain, As Deep As The Deepest Sea

Acknowledgements:

Katie Markell, Ed Breun, Dory Beutel, Eli Carr

Dedicated:

This book is dedicated to the two loves of my life—Eli Carr and Ed Breun. They show me how to live and love each day of my life. It is also dedicated to all the people with disabilities who experience grief.

You Will Always Be In My Heart

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S am has brown hair, brown eyes, and has something called Down Syndrome. He is 7 years old, has a dog named Sniff, and loves to watch movies.

He can’t learn some things as quickly as other children do, but he does learn a lot. He even reads books to his Mommy and Daddy, and usually he doesn’t make any mistakes.

Sam loves going to his Grandmother’s house. He calls her Grammy, and she lives only a few blocks away from his house. He feels very proud that he can walk to Grammy’s house all by himself.

Grammy and Sam love playing games together. Grammy is always very patient when Sam has a difficult time learning the rules.

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Sam teaches Grammy songs that he learns at school. When they sang one song they both liked, they would laugh and laugh when they sang the words, A peanut sat on a railroad track, His heart was all a-flutter. Round the bend came number ten. Toot! Toot! Peanut butter! SQUISH! Grammy and Sam love to sing together. Sam is always very patient when Grammy has a hard time learning songs.

One day when Sam came home from school, his father was at home. Daddy usually wasn’t at home when Sam came from school.

Daddy told Sam that Grammy had died during the day. Sam could tell by Daddy’s voice that he was very unhappy.

Sam asked Daddy what it meant that Grammy died.

Daddy told Sam that Grammy’s body stopped working. She could not see, or hear, or touch, or talk anymore.

Sam was confused. He asked Daddy how Grammy would be able to play and sing with him.

Daddy told Sam that Grammy would not be able to play and sing anymore.

Since Sam and Grammy couldn’t sing and play, Sam wondered if they could watch movies together. Daddy told Sam that Grammy would not be able to do anything anymore.

Sam started to cry. Daddy started to cry too. Daddy told Sam that it was OK to cry. Daddy said that it is very sad when someone you love dies.

Daddy told Sam that even though Grammy was dead, her memories would always be in Sam’s heart.

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Sam asked if Daddy was going to die too. Daddy said that everyone dies and that someday he would die too, but it probably wouldn’t be for a very long time. Sam cried again.

Daddy said that if Mommy or he would die there would be someone to take care of Sam. Even though Sam