Since the end of the school year, in the third week of June, our 17-year-old boy had been itching to get out of town on a day trip or road trip, but we had all been way too tired… until now. Specifically, he wanted to go to Gettysburg, PA, to a tiny but […]
Widowed Holidays
Happy Re-New Year
Good morning. Here I am again writing on a Saturday that happens to be a major American holiday; this one celebrating the 250th anniversary of the USA. As many of us who are widowed know, weekends coinciding with holidays can often prove to be draining instead of festive; delivering a double emotional whammy. I still […]
Planting Hope With the Tree of Life
Tuesday, June 30th, wouldāve been the 66th birthday of my late sister, Manette. Each year, I recount the story of how my horse-loving sister magically acquired a lovely, but feisty, Arabian Quarter Horse mix in 1973 when my family spent 9 months living in Boulder, Colorado. My essay, The Year of the Dream Horse, a […]
Timber
Yesterday was Fatherās Day and our 6th one without Tony. A week ago, I checked in with the kids and once again they didnāt care to do anything special. So, we had no plans for the day. I had been putting off yard work for longer than I care to admit. Iām not a tall […]
Welcome Summer and Happy Paw Dad Day
Tomorrow is the official first day of summer, the longest day of the year. Abundant sunlight often extends the hours of our days long after 6:00pm with those bright rays lingering even three hours later. This has always been my favorite time of the year.Ā I think for some people that are grieving the […]
Allowing Nostalgia to Evolve
Every year when I was a kid, throughout the 1970’s and 80’s, my extended family would take a road trip to San Diego to visit family. During the era of no-seatbelt-laws, thirteen (13!) of us would pile into the family orange Dodge Van with the bubble windows, back area that turned into a huge bed, […]
A Meaningful Memorial Day to All
Weekends are often difficult and long for widowed people, and holiday weekends are especially challenging. So many of us have distant, and not so distant, memories of holidays gone by. For me, the Memorial Day Weekend holds many.Ā Places like the New Jersey Shore, embrace the unofficial beginning of the summer season even though summer […]
Mother’s Day with Boys
Another Motherās Day has come and gone; six to be exact since Tony died. It is still weird to wake up on a day like Motherās Day without him. I always take myself back in time to the last one he was alive for. He and the boys picked up the house, emptied the dishwasher, […]
Paw-sing to Thank the Dog Moms
Happy Dog Momās Day (always the Saturday before the human version) and Motherās Day Weekend. I donāt have any human kids of my own, but I do have four sweet K-9 Kiddos for which Iām grateful. And Iām not the only one who feels that way. I spend considerable time on sites for the […]
What do Cinco de Mayo š²š½ and Mother’s Day š have in common?
Nothing, except everything. Yesterday, May 5th, the grief hit me out of nowhere, yet not entirely unexpectedly.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā We loved turning nothing into something, any excuse into a celebration. Take Cinco de Mayo, for instance. Not Mexican Independence Day š²š½ and not a widely celebrated holiday in Mexico, but after nearly 30 years […]
Small Change and “Small” Moments
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, a holiday that has always been one of my favorites. Itās a time of renewal and hopeful warmer days. This past week we celebrated the first anniversary of acquiring Winnie, the puppy I brought home after a visit to our local Winn Dixie. Hard to believe a year has gone by […]
The Loss of Future Memories
One of the things that makes our people āour people,ā is the million things we know about them that few / no one knew, and – as importantly, the million things they knew about us that no one else knew. We were also āeach otherās peopleā because of the special 1:1 memories we had, the […]