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. […]
Widowed and Healing
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 […]
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 […]
Christmas Past
There are certain days of the year we use to mark the passage of time. After losing someone that time either falls into the before or after loss category. I don’t know if it was always that way for me, but Christmas is now one of those days. Today marks our third Christmas without Tony. […]
When Things Go Wrong
in Grief and Life I love this image. One folder looks like tax receipts; another could be love letters. Bookends of life. When things go wrong in grief it forms a layer on top of the grief itself. We are carrying one thing and then, suddenly, there is another layer on top (and often another […]
Overindulgence
If I’m going to write my truth in full here, sometimes that means sharing the uglier side. Many of us have vices. They are not all healthy. I don’t want to condone it or judge it here, only share. Occasionally, I find myself in a situation where I have overindulged in alcohol. Where one drink […]
Christmas Cheer “Condensed”
Awaiting stormy East Coast weather and settling in to write my weekly Post. I continue to coordinate with family at a distance as my mom faces post stroke challenges up in New York State which has been my recent primary focus. I often remind those who are assisting us that my mom lost her husband […]
The Trickster of Grief
Forgetting “What did I do with my glasses?” I ask. “This is strange. I’ve looked everywhere.” This was me in my twenties, thirties, and beyond. This is me today. Five minutes ago. Perhaps if I’d gone to a Montessori school, things would be different. Nope. Forgetting has ever been a part of my norm. […]
Tis The Season
It’s official, as a solo parent free time in December doesn’t exist. Thank goodness I put my humbug down last week because time is flying now. After I vented in my blog post last Monday about not getting the tree out yet. I pushed myself to drag the tree up from the basement. I enlisted […]
The Trees of Christmas Past and Future
This week I was able to head two hours north to retrieve my Christmas items to bring them to their new home. It is exciting to decorate and enjoy the holiday season in a new space, especially one that lends itself so perfectly to the season. Even without snow, a log home sets it […]
Pushing Comfort Zones
Last night I spoke in front of an audience of 50+ people. Public speaking is not my bag. I prefer the least amount of attention rather than a situation where all eyes are on me. I’m a nervous public speaker, even when it’s a topic I know a lot about. There are always some awkward […]