Friday Five

The Friday Five is our weekly roundup of links to smart articles and helpful resources across the Web.

1. U.S. News posted a great article titled "5 Steps to a Family Caregiving Agreement" in their blog The Best Life. If you haven't picked up on it yet, we here at Casa de la Luz Hospice strive to encourage people to plan ahead, before a crisis situation happens. Creating a family caregiving agreement is just one more way for families to plan ahead and make a difficult situation a little bit smoother.

2. Have you recently lost a loved one? In addition to hospice services, we provide bereavement care for individuals grieving the loss of a loved one. Register for one of our support groups, or drop into our weekly Friday support group. Grief support groups can provide understanding as to how grief affects us and help identify coping strategies and new methods to help ourselves through the grief experience. (Note: All of our bereavement support groups are open to the public, and you do not need to have had a loved one on our service.)

3.  You're ready to start planning ahead, but you're not quite sure where or how to start? After you fill out your Five Wishes, why not make a financial inventory. Caring Connections, an NHPCO program, offers worksheets to organize your finances.

4. In recognition of this Sunday, 10 years since the World Trade Center towers were attacked, many publications are running 9/11 features, articles, etc. Here is just one of the many powerful pieces. The NY Times presents 9/11: The Reckoning, a slide show of images showing what various people kept from that day. We offer a moment of silence to remember those lost that day and in the days that have followed.

5. Sunday (or the days prior or the days after) will be a difficult day for many. The San Diego Caregiver's Blog offers strategies for coping with grief and loss during this 9/11 anniversary weekend.