So one of the courses I'm taking this semester is the Psychology of Death and Dying. Sounds morbid, you say? Actually, it's been quite interesting. Today we talked about how children perceive death, and we discussed how their grief process is different from an adults, depending on how developed they are. We watched a video of a kids support group, for children who had lost siblings or parents. It was just heartbreaking to hear them tell their stories. They also do some art therapy, which was really interesting. Apparently one of the most powerful acrtivities is to get the child to draw the weather outside on the day of the funeral, and then draw the weather inside them. Most of them drew rainclouds. Oh, it was tough to watch them. You just want to reach in and take away their pain.
I started tearing up a bit during the video, but really shed a couple tears as I did one of the readings for today. The textbook talks a lot about 9/11 in the introduction, and there was a small box with a transcript of a phone call from a man on one of the hijacked planes to his wife. The thing about death is that it really makes you appreciate life.
"This is the reported message that Brain Sweeney, a 38-year-old passenger on United Airlines Flight 175 that crashed into the World Trade Center's South Tower, left for his wife, Julie, on their answering machine shortly before 9 a.m. on September 11, 2001.
'Hey Jules, it's Brian. I'm on a plane and it's hijacked and it doesn't look good. I just wanted to let you know that I love you and I hope to see you again. If I don't, please have fun in life and live your life the best you can. Know that I love you and no matter what, I'll see you again.'"
:*(
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