Sometimes in life, when things are feeling overwhelming or extremely hard, a conversation with a friend can be very healing and validating, and buying yourself some pretty flowers can really brighten your space and the walls around you. This week, I did both of those things. A widowed friend of mine offered to take me […]
Time for Change
There are times in life when change happens. Sometimes we want and welcome the change, and other times the change is thrusted upon us like a heavy brick against our chest, cutting off our oxygen. Whatever the case, changes are always lurking around the corner, and most of us develop fears and anxieties and hesitations […]
The Friends that Know
Yesterday we had our two times per month Soaring Spirits Regional Group meetup. There were about 10 of us or so, at a local library, where we have our own private room and we set out a long table for refreshments. Then, we sit and chat about everything. The conversation flows naturally each time. We […]
Things That are Hard
Hello Everyone. Happy Sunday. Last week, I once again forgot to write in here. Life has been difficult lately. I promise to do better. Today is my husband Nick’s birthday. Today, despite the many complicated things we are facing and going through in our relationship, I am thankful to have met him, to have experienced […]
the After
The aftermath of loss can be filled with many things. Exhaustion, pain, tears, hope, hopelessness, guilt, new friends, new perspective, more exhaustion, confusion, identity crisis, and so much more. The aftermath of coming home after a Camp Widow weekend experience can be filled with some of those same things. Going to Tampa and giving my […]
Florida Days
On Wednesday, I will be leaving for Camp Widow Tampa, and Im really excited. It’s also really emotional for so many reasons. First off, I will be the KeyNote Address Speaker at Camp Widow this year. I still remember watching Michele Neff Hernandez up there on that stage, speaking to all of us broken and […]
Kindness is a Boomerang
This morning, a friend of mine posted a meme on social media that said: “Some stranger somewhere still remembers you because you were kind to them when noone else was.” The truth and simplicity in this statement struck me – about how absolutely powerful and meaningful it can be to have someone show you kindness, […]
Words That Heal
I love words. I love the way they sound, what they mean, how they are said, all of it. When Don Shepherd died suddenly, it was words that saved me. Words that kept me going. Words that gave me pause to think and to reflect, and words written or said by others who had been […]
The Volume Button
Years go by. Days, months, life events. Before you know it, you have been living with the death of your person for almost 13 years. It goes by in a flash, and also, excruciatingly slow. Life goes on, as they say. But sometimes what really sucks is that the constant death of your person also […]
Losing Time
As some of you who follow me here may know, since I have posted about it recently, my dad was diagnosed with dementia with Alzheimers Disease. His confusion, cognitive skills issues, and memory loss have been going on for awhile now, and we have been worried. He finally agreed to get some testing done, and […]
Just Peace, Please
Who else has been on this path – this grief tsunami – for a whole bunch of years now, like me? Who else has been living in the AFTERMATH of loss for some time, and has felt a significant change in what things are important to them, now, today, in this life? Who else has […]
Fearing Change, Changing Fears
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 […]