As I stood to leave the small well-lit loft of the nearby community center, I felt somewhat convicted that I needed to do the one thing I never wanted to do. Publicly run a grief group. I looked around the room as people slowly trickled through the door, grabbing a cookie for the road that … Continue reading November Chill
To Thine Own Self Be True....Shakespeare uses this line in Hamlet, and this phrase has multiple meanings. The first meaning is that someone can better judge himself if he has done what he should or could have done. The second meaning is that one must be honest in his ways and relations. The third meaning … Continue reading To Thine Own Self Be True
Permanence, until now I never realized the full gravity of something being permanent. We use a permanent marker to write our names on our children's clothing aa they head off to summer camp. Of course you can also scratch out the name, tear out a tag. You can cover it up with another name, make … Continue reading Permanent
In the late hours of 2015 Mikenna got mono. It came as a surprise to us because in 8th grade her best friend and her shared everything and they both tested positive for mono. This was the first time I learned that although the virus lays dormant, some people have it reactivated. Those people are … Continue reading The Leprosy of Loss
I was driving home from visiting my oldest daughter for her birthday. It's a long tedious drive I had done dozens of times. After losing her sister, only 20 months younger than her, and her best friend, I count every birthday as a blessing. She finally looked like my beautiful girl again, except now she … Continue reading Into the Storm
When I find myself down for days, I know I need a project or something to distract me. A goal, a craft, something to pour my energy into. This can go on for days or weeks, sometimes working through meals and long past the hours when I should be sleeping. The tricky part is this … Continue reading The Balancing Act of Loss
The conversations around my house for weeks were centered around Prom. You can blame Disney, social media, or our culture, but being a pretty princess is somewhere in our DNA or at least part of our little girl daydreams. The talk was on dresses and shoes, clutches and nails, dinner and transportation, make-up and hair. … Continue reading Defining Grounded
I remember learning that my grandfather took all of my grandmother's things and gave them to the Good Will. I remember being so upset that all of her things were gone. A few years later my other grandmother past away. All of her things that had not been distributed to her children, such as jewelry, … Continue reading Cleaning Up and moving Forward, Becoming Stuck like Chuck
Raven and Roses 