I have always been someone who fears change. I think a lot of people do. I also think it takes a long time to really understand that if nothing ever changed, that means that everything would stay the same forever. And if you really understand that, you would not want that, because nothing ever changing […]
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Random Thoughts During Week One of 2024
I’ve always enjoyed this time of year. The world seems to exhale and breathe new life in to the fresh days of a new year after an intense holiday season. I’ve always felt this way, but that feeling has been much stronger dealing with loss. It takes a great deal of focus and energy to […]
“Time spent with cats is never wasted.”
Mario and I chose cats over kids. I know full well that furry family members are not the same as kids but when you don’t have kids, you absolutely care about them in the same kind of ways. Without human children in your life, you really focus on the fact that your pets may only […]
Where Does the Time Go?
I have completed a short visit with Craig and Donna, who are hosting one of their daughter’s kids, two year old Micah. It’s early, but Micah and I have already taken Lola for a walk along the nature trail that runs through the town, enjoyed a breakfast consisting of an egg, toast, and fresh fruit, […]
As I Enter Twenty Twenty-Four
A Brief List of Happenings This year I eschewed a few traditions. “No,” I told my children, “I am not depressed; not avoiding you; not in a funk. Just changing it up for New Year’s 2024.” It was the opposite of being in a funk. Recently, I resolved to face any problems full-on and to […]
Another Year
Whew. And just like that the season is wrapped up. Finally. Since the ‘ber months started all I could think to myself was, just get me to January 2nd. As hard as it is every day to live with grief it’s worst during the holiday season. Mostly when our wedding anniversary falls two days before […]
Word of the Year
Happy New Year everyone!! Emily is out and enjoying vacation with her kids. Please give her post from the start of 2023 a read as it is still quite fitting to be present in 2024 too! ~Mary “In my very first post here I said I’ve never been a New Year resolution kind of gal. […]
Letting it Sink In
Things happen in life. For me, my biggest trauma and grief, of course, was the death of Don Shepherd on July 13th, 2011. It was sudden. Instant. Jolted awake by my new reality, literally. A phone call and a cab ride to our local ER that would alter life as I knew it forever. “We […]
Hoot Owl Anthem
With the passing of another year, I strive to comprehend the incidents that have unfolded in the span of the past four years. In 2020, my late husband and I closed on our dream home in a gated community in Southeast Georgia. We enjoyed settling in to our new lives even with the challenges presented […]
Stuck in the Mud
With only 3 days until another year is done, I like to take time to reflect on how the year went overall, as well as things I want to include in the next 12 months. One of the things I’d really like to include is to overcome my own struggle with procrastination. Google’s Bard defines […]
Year End Performance Review
In my working career, I was never part of an organization that utilized performance reviews to evaluate personnel but have many friends and familiars who annually get subjected to this practice. Although I have no business background, it’s plain that a lot of science and research has gone into efforts to develop a fair, unbiased, […]
Marking Time
Through Numbers This is my 85th blog post as a widow. By 71 years + 230 days, time marked 32 years since Dan’s first heart attack at age 39. When he died, we had been married for 18,913 days (50 years + 9 months) when no one thought these two crazy kids would make it […]








