I lost my twin brother to alcohol on November 18, 2010. Well really I lost him to alcohol well before that. He had been drinking and smoking pot since the 7th grade (earlier some friends told me). I have to wonder what was so different about his growing up experience than mine that led him to drink. It boggles the mind really that we grew up together, shared a room till we were in the 4th grade, had all the same opportunities and challenges and it was him found dead, alone in his…

I sneeze just like my mom. I laugh explosively, just like my mom, I am a snob about education, just like my mom. When I would visit and answer her phone, people couldn't tell our voices apart. But I have spent YEARS trying not to be just like her. She was stoic, didn't believe that "talking" about feelings really helped anything. She felt that you got over bad times and strong feelings by getting active, doing things, getting things done. I on the other hand have been in therapy for five…

After reading so many entries by the people on this site of their traumatic losses, I know I have found a community of people who understand and are in the thick of grief, which is both helpful and a bit overwhelming that there is so much suffering.

The quick story is my twin brother was a life-long alcoholic and died Nov. 18, 2010. He had been out of his latest rehab facility for only two months. My Mom had open heart surgery Dec. 30 -- developed complications and died Feb. 13, 2011.…