Blog

Hi Camp Erin Family!   Well, I blinked, and POOF the weekend was over. Summer number seven in the books!   First and foremost,...

Nature’s Gifts By Clinical Director, Michelle Graff    Being in nature is clinically proven to help reduce stress, clear the mind,...

Dear COPE Families,   Transitioning from summer to fall can be overwhelming under normal circumstances; adjusting to a different work schedule,...

COPE FOUNDATION GOLF OUTING Thank you to everyone who helped make COPE Golf Outing 2018 a wonderful success. Much gratitude to this year's Honorees:...

  In Memory of Jaclyn Scarabino  From her parents Diane & Robert Scarabino and loving brothers Ricky & Michael.   As we...

Mindfulness So what is this mindfulness everyone is talking about, and what does it have to do with grief? Mindfulness is the basic human ability to...

Dear COPE Families, Navigating your way through grief. You lose your mind.  You find your senses. Compass-passion…compassion. Listen for...

Dear COPE Families, There are circumstances in every relationship that may cause us moments of regret.  With grief comes regret. Regret for all...

Acceptance Speech from Shaun Sharp,  recipient of COPE Sibling Recognition Award at COPE Golf Outing May 21, 2018 Fran was a loving...

Acceptance Speech from Sandra R. Wolkoff, Ph.D., LCSW-R,  recipient of COPE Parent Recognition Award and COPE Professional Service Award...

Vulnerability Can Be An Act of Courage By Clinical Director, Michelle Graff      Grief is an experience that creates a feeling...

It feels like it was just yesterday.  I went to the cemetery this past Saturday, the day before Easter, to plant a beautiful cross in...

My son Adam would be turning 36 years of age this month (4/26) had he not passed from an overdose at the tender age of 24 in ‘06. Back then, I never...

Coping with Grief on Mother’s Day   Allow yourself to feel your grief Sometimes the anticipation of an actual event is worse than the...

Dear COPE Families, This will be the first Mother's Day without my mother. Her loss has brought up all my other losses. Loss triggers loss. My...

20 years ago, I lost my older sibling, Sean. He was 25 and I was just shy of my 21st birthday. I missed out on those glory years where all my...

Have you ever paused for a moment and observed your breath? Chances are you haven’t noticed, and that you are probably not taking full advantage of...

Dear COPE Families,   I've been talking to the other side for 26 years. This past week, it brought tears to my eyes and pain to my...

Hi from Camp Erin NYC! Brrrrrr! I would rather think of summer with lots of sun and campers. That always warms my heart! Starting to hear from...

Forever 13 by Jane Shaw “13”…It’s just a number.  To some it’s bad luck.  But to me it was always a very special number.  It was the...

Healing Tip March By Clinical Director Michelle Graff There is no right or wrong way to grieve. We used to believe that grief was a linear process...

Dear COPE Families,   From the time that my daughter passed away from me, l have searched for her, looking for anything to ease my suffering...

Nurturing Your Body By our new Clinical Director, Michelle Graff   We know that the grief process can put a tremendous strain on us...

Dear COPE Families,   The last time I was in Arizona was 1991, three months before my daughter, Michelle, passed on Jan 25 in 1992....

A Mother Left Behind By Kalia Loper After my daughter, Nayyira, lost her life in November 2012 due to an automobile accident, I was crushed....

COPE'S NEW HOME – JANUARY 2018! New Address:  Cedarmere Historic Home, 225 Bryant Avenue, Roslyn, NY 11576    Starting January 1,...

Words from COPE President and Founder, Lillian Julien   Dear COPE Families, Since loss drastically changed our lives, any change...

Yoga for Grief We can move through grief with a practice that connects body, heart and mind while offering strength and comfort in the present. Now...

Dear COPE Families,   Holidays are a time when we may find ourselves struggling or even wrestling with our thoughts and emotions. We...

New Address:  Cedarmere Historic Home, 225 Bryant Avenue, Roslyn, NY 11576  Starting January 1, 2018, COPE will be in our new location at...

Owning Your Holidays Celebrating winter holidays, like Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa and New Years, can be challenging for grieving families. At...

Daytime Bereavement Group by Janet Zimmerman, LCSW-R    On the first Tuesday and third Wednesday of each month, a wonderful group of...

Words from COPE President and Founder, Lillian Julien   Dear COPE Families,   I live with a hole in my heart. Often around...

In Memory of Ava Hecht  By Karen Gang On January 8, 2009, I began a heartbreaking lifelong journey that those reading this column are...

Healing Tip of the Month From Amy Olshever, PhD, LCSW When we experience a tragic and devastating loss it can be “traumatizing”. When we think about...

Parent Poem   In Memory of Heath Bogin   They Tell Me  By Esther Bogin, Heath's Mom...

In Memory of Jaclyn Scarabino Maybe other parents who have lost a precious child go through this too? There is a certain point before her birthdate...

COPE Healing Tip of the Month From COPE Clinical Director Amy Olshever, PhD, LCSW How Do We Understand Grief? What stage am I in? How long will...

Words from COPE President and Founder, Lillian Julien Dear COPE Families, As I struggle to find my voice (due to a vocal chord problem), I am...

"My sister will die over and over again for the rest of my life. Grief is forever. It doesn't go away; it becomes a part of you, step for step,...

The trees are coming into leaf Like something almost being said; The recent buds relax and spread, Their greenness is a kind of grief.   Is it...

As a mother, I write about Father's Day, remembering my children's father. I am a mother because of him. If not for him, I would not have my...

Living with grief demands courage: the courage to keep living; the courage to learn from our losses; the courage to ask for help when we need it,...

Tom's Mom, Janet Shavel writes:   As all of us grieve the loss of our children, somehow for me - perhaps others, the...

OUR LOVING SON KENNETH LACKS   They say there is a reason, They say that time will heal, But neither time nor reason, Will change the way we...

Most of us functioned fairly competently in our day-to-day lives—holding jobs or going to school, managing families, reading books, taking care of...

Words from COPE President and Founder, Lillian Julien Dear COPE Families, I was shattered by the loss of my child until I gradually found...

   My older son, Larry Marcus was killed in an auto accident at college on 4-14-83 at the age of 23 yrs. It happened a few months before...

To honor you, I get up everyday and take a breath. And start another day without you in it. To honor you, I laugh and love with those who knew your...

 I was introduced to a golden retriever close to my sons first anniversary. He was so comforting. I asked the owner where she got her dog and...

The worst nightmare is here, Just what every parent dares to fear. My son, my only child, no longer lives. My son, my only child, no longer gives Me...

From COPE Clinical Director Amy Olshever, PhD, LCSW   How do you feel when you see the purple and yellow of new crocuses? Or at the arrival of...

Words from COPE President and Founder, Lillian Julien  Dear COPE Families, As we look forward to warmer temperatures of spring, we...

Words from COPE President and Founder, Lillian Julien Dear COPE Families, Writing is a powerful tool. As I recently looked through past...

Words from COPE President and Founder Lilly Julien “On the outside I'm trying to be brave and tough. On the inside my heart is breaking.” These were...

Martina Sternberg, PhD, NCC writes about her son Josh…. I wanted to write something in this newsletter to honor my son, Joshua, who died Jan 24,...

© Alex more by Alex , Published on July 2011 The beam shines down, The rays so bright, The stars come forward, At the dead of night. I feel you...

Martina Sternberg, PhD, NCC writes about her son Josh…. I wanted to write something in this newsletter to honor my son, Joshua, who died Jan 24,...

From COPE Clinical Director Amy Olshever, PhD, LCSW Losing a loved one stays with us forever. But holidays, in particular, can be grief triggers...

From COPE Clinical Director Amy Olshever, PhD, LCSW Now that you have managed to make it through the rigors of the holiday season, the new year is a...

By Esther Bogin My son Heath is with me in my good and bad times, even though he died March 8, 2015.  The hole in my being (my heart, soul and...

Someone I love has gone away and life is not the same, the greatest gift that you can give is just to speak their name. I need to hear the stories...

Words from COPE President and Founder Lilly Julien “What will I do with my love for you?" a grieving mother calls out in desperation. “Just love...

Words from COPE President and Founder Lilly Julien On Thanksgiving, I gave thanks for COPE, all of our facilitators, directors, and volunteers who...

COPE Parent Sandi Bloomberg wrote this poem for her daughter in law. He’s just gone for a little while Some day in the future You’ll again see...

COPE Parent Phyllis Weiner received this poem as a Jewish prayer for the High Holidays. "I believe it's universal for anyone who has lost a loved...

Crazy Upside Down Life In memory of my beloved son, Jay Jimenez     - E. J. Barbera   Sun’s out at night, moths fly from flame...

Life is Eternal If wishing makes it so won't you let me know that life is eternal and love is immortal and death is only a horizon Life is eternal...

To Where You Are Who can say for certain, maybe you're still here ~ I feel you all around me, your memory so clear. Deep within the stillness I can...

As far as I can see, grief will never truly end. It may become softer over time, more gentle, and some days will feel sharp. But grief will last as...

Now that I am gone, remember me with smiles and laughter. And if you need to cry, cry with your brother or sister who walks in grief beside you. And...

We Remember Them In the rising of the sun and in its going down,
 We remember them; In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of...

The truest words of all: I will not forget you. 
You are in my waking thoughts, 
my sweetest memories, my dearest dreams. 
I will not...

I am still with you If it seems that I am far away on this empty and solemn day Just open your heart and know it’s true that I am still right here...

Tread purposefully we of no consequence for no heart beats for you save your own Tread softly we of deep breath and sigh for why conspire when truth...

Don’t cry for me now I have died, for I’m still here I’m by your side, My body’s gone but my soul’s here, please don’t shed another tear, I am still...

I am still with you by Julie Johnson, Wings of Grace   If it seems that I am far away on this empty and solemn day Just open your heart and...

Time for me to go now, I won't say goodbye; Look for me in rainbows, way up in the sky. In the morning sunrise when all the world is new, Just look...

Remembering Go ahead and mention my loved one, The one that died, you know. Don’t worry about hurting me further. The depth of my pain doesn’t show....

Dearest Mommy and Daddy, When you wonder the meaning of life and love Know that I am with you. Close your eyes and feel me kissing you in the gentle...

I don’t know why. I’ll never know why. I don’t have to know why. I don’t like it. I don’t have to like it. What I do have to do is make a choice...

You departed from this Earth six months ago, During your illness you told me I'd have to let you go; While I could no longer bear to see you in that...

Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight...

These are challenging times for my dear friend (relative, etc.) There may be some difficult days for her (him) along the way. I want to be there to...

There will be a tomorrow that exists without me. And I know that. When that day arrives, I want this world to have seen greater beauty because I...

In Memory of Allison Morales I STOOD WATCHING AS THE LITTLE SHIP SAILED OUT TO SEA. THE SETTING SUN TINTED ITS WHITE SAILS WITH GOLDEN LIGHT. AND AS...

Sudden eruption of pain, Darkness all around, The loss of a child. The life will never be whole anymore, Fractured, like a pieces of a puzzle That a...

Then a woman said, ”Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.” And he answered: Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your...

I trace the outline of your face with my spirit finger tips. Surely you feel the energy as it escapes. Existence has many layers. We are but a...

Dear God: I don’t have your exact address to mail my letter so I am simply asking you to please take care of my daughter Bari Lynn Swedlow – Hebrew...

If I could have just one more day and wishes did come true, I'd spend every glorious moment side by side with you. Recalling all the years we shared...

I give you this one thought to keep - I am with you still - I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow, I am...

By Sandi Bloomberg I’ll always love and miss you Each and every day I know that you are with me In a very special way I see you in the fluffy clouds...

DOWN BELOW the surface of a quiet pond lived a little colony of waterbugs. They were a happy colony, living far away from the sun. For many months...

Life is like a journey on a train... with its stations... with changes of routes... and with accidents ! We board this train when we are born and...

I would give my life to have you back, Said the Mom I know you would, said her child. I cry each night for you, said the Mom And I catch all of your...

If you let me reveal my- self to you, I will dance on light skip on sunbeams, I will fill you completely and never lose you. If you see me right...

By Chris Roe This poem is a selection from “In Search of Silence” a collection of 45 poems by Chris Roe. The poems take you on a Personal Journey in...