Today, the day before Mother’s Day, is officially Dog Mom’s Day. For many, especially those that are widowed, our dogs (and other pets) can fill a great void when no human can, providing comfort and companionship when they feel so all alone in the world, sometimes even when they have actual human kids. My […]
Widowed Holidays
A Week in “Old Florida” Never Gets Old
It’s been a “mundane” but productive week filled with property-related distractions; the homestead matters that call for care and maintenance, those things that keep me grounded, literally. The tasks of making sure my foundation is secure. I kind of like weeks like that. Nose-to-the-grindstone kind of stuff. Fortunately, I found out this week that I […]
Death and Holidays
Yesterday was the 4th anniversary of Tony’s passing. In case you missed it, yesterday was also Easter. I have known and dreaded for a full year that these two events would coincide. About a month ago, I checked in with my kids about the date. Bringing the calendar to their attention and getting their thoughts […]
Seasonal Awareness
My Awareness Calendar reminds me that April, among other things, contains the Awareness Observances of Adopt a Greyhound Month, Global Volunteer Month, Library Snapshot Month, National Pet Month, and Couple Appreciation Month. This is just a few from a field of 100 plus observances currently on record! But for the purposes of this column, I […]
Wearing Green Again
Last Monday, should have been my 18th wedding anniversary. I had almost lost sight of its impending arrival. His death anniversary falls on Easter this year. Preparing for that had been taking up my extra grief mental load. In fact, when a friend texted me a few days before my anniversary to check in on […]
A Husky Tale of Great Distraction
I’m drafting this post as I watch the UCONN-Villanova Big East Tournament game.March Madness has begun. If you are into basketball, you understand the amazing legacy of both the UCONN men’s and women’s teams. March Madness used to drive Rich crazy. He wasn’t a big sports fan and with UCONN typically playing to the bitter […]
Valentine Kindness
This was my fourth Valentine’s Day without a Valentine. It was never a huge holiday for us but that doesn’t mean it’s not a reminder of grief. Seeing the advertisements still remind you that your partner is gone, even if you would never buy them whatever it is they are selling. It’s another small way […]
Happy Adoptiversary, Jackson!
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. For the widowed, it can be a day as emotionally charged as anniversaries, holiday and birthdates. No matter where you are in your ongoing recovery process, these events can amp up feelings because they serve up so many memories. A year ago, my partner David, a major dog-lover, and I, welcomed […]
Lunar New Year Eve Reflections
As I sit here finishing my preparations for the Lunar New Year tomorrow I can’t help but look back on this past year. Lunar New Year has always been one of the most important holidays to our family next to Christmas and 4th of July. It was one that I welcomed Erik to be a […]
Simple Pleasures
Everyone is ready for January to be over. There are jokes online about how this month feels never ending. Record cold and snow for some of us, and devasting fires for others. It has not been a great month. However, I’m not ready to roll out the red carpet for February either. Halfway through that […]
Where Is Dad
Each year since Tony died, I have taken the kids on a vacation the week between Christmas and New Years. We’ve been to Disney World, Jamaica, Mexico, and this year I took the boys on their first ever cruise. I find myself counting these vacations to remember how many holidays he’s missed. Traveling over the […]
Weather Delays
I’m sorry, I missed my post last week. The kids and I traveled over the holiday break. We were supposed to be home Saturday night. As luck would have it, there was also ice and snow headed to our hometown Saturday. A few days earlier I moved our flight time up a few hours to […]