Last Tuesday I found myself immersed in meetings that revolved around the world of dogs; a lunch gathering with the owner of the local animal rescue (I serve on their board) and her colleagues and later, a Zoom meeting with the board of the Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA). Two distinct worlds, both united […]
Widowed Milestones
Coping with “Ruff Moments”
I hope everyone is enjoying a safe and sound holiday weekend during the Fourth of July celebrations that are inevitably ocurring in all corners of the United States. I like to think of the First of July as a good time to declare Happy Half Year and take a moment to process the first portion […]
How far have I come?
Where am I headed? The word journey is a funny word. It seems to speak of both time and distance. How far does one travel on the path of grief? Where exactly are we “going”? From 2021 to the present, my journey loosely followed this trajectory: –Year One was a fog; I went […]
Seasons of Change
And just like that, we say goodbye to June and hello to July. What a whirlwind of a month June was. I felt like I was holding on to the bumper of a car moving at 100 miles per hour. It was a month full of milestones, memories, and so so many emotions. Looking back […]
Keeping Their Memories Alive
Last Monday, CAMP WIDOW a Documentary, aired via PBS/Independent Lens. It’s a short form documentary that packs a depth of emotion, a glimpse into the heart of an event that unites the widowed in a way like no other. I attended, and had the honor to present at, Camp Widow San Diego in 2023, […]
A Love Letter to Widowed People
in Riverside and Beyond Michele Neff Hernandez, SSI, and Marlene Huerta Frazer, Widow Goals, Inland Empire Do you ever have a “plan” that’s perfect and then you find that LIFE has it’s own plan? I sure do. When volunteering to host a screening for Camp Widow, I had a vision in my mind that […]
CAMP WIDOW the Documentary: “A love letter to resilience.”
This Monday presents the Awareness Observance of International Widow’s Day and also most fittingly the national debut of the documentary, CAMP WIDOW. I reached out to Michele Neff Hernandez, the CEO of Soaring Spirits International and the creator of the Camp Widow program to learn more about this groundbreaking project that followed a long and […]
“Episode IV – A New Hope”
Shortly after Lee died, I lost my enthusiasm for my regular work. My career as a trial and appellate lawyer quickly paled in significance next to the impact and importance of her loss, despite the many interesting and important cases I’d been involved in over the years. However, it wasn’t as if one day I […]
Dull Weed-like Plants and Sunny Sunflowers
Can joy and loss coexist? The dry, brown, feathery stalks in this photo remind me of the dried up feeling of loss that sneaks up on me. Standing directly in front of the dry stalks, sunflowers pop up through the leafy green leaves. I ask: Have you no shame yellow-face-flowers? Can you not feel […]
Mysteries of the Future
In April, I started with a new therapist, and I’ve been seeing her consistently since our first session. Today we were discussing secondary losses towards the end of our session. Just as the bulk of my session was winding down, I hit on a new topic that was bigger than the 2 minutes we had […]
Memories Well-Coached
Tomorrow is Father’s Day and I’ll take this opportunity to write first a little about the special bond my late dad, Jack, had with my late husband Rich. There were some commonalities. My father’s middle name was Richard and they’d both served in the United States Navy, my dad also a member of the US […]
Where is beauty?
Where is joy? I’m grateful to be alive this day to breathe in air to witness beauty and to walk barefooted upon the earth. Grief’s feeling cycles remind me that I am alive. The values which form the backbone of my existence remind me to pay attention. Where does joy reside? […]