All of us at one time or another have felt grief: perhaps over a lost job, lost love, or the most heartbreaking, the death of someone we loved dearly. Each of us goes about the task of grieving in our own distinct way.

When we lose a loved one the grief path is long and complicated. We feel so many different emotions, sadness, abandonment, anger; it seems we will never be normal again.

When I lost my son and my husband within the same year, I was devastated. My son died in April of that year and my husband and I had him cremated. We worried about what to do with the cremains.

One night as I pondered what had made my son happy in life, I remembered his love of Mickey Mouse. Even as an adult, he had loved Mickey. I knew what to do with his ashes then. I bought a plush Mickey Mouse doll and I put his ashes inside. I kept the doll close and was able to pick it up and hug it when I thought of my son. It was a great comfort.

When my husband died 7 months later, he also was cremated. This time I knew exactly what to do with his ashes. He had given me a Teddy Bear many years previously that I loved. Of course, I put his ashes in the Teddy Bear. Again, I could hold the bear when I thought of my husband. I could sob into its soft fur; I could hug it and feel as if I was being hugged. That Teddy Bear with my husband