I have always loved fall 🍁 One of our favorite seasons as a family, with the chilly mornings, vibrant colors, coffee, fire pits, pumpkin patches, fall festivals, Halloween and, of course, Thanksgiving. I find it amazing how our bodies and souls, so deeply connected, remember the injuries inflicted on them, as soon as the weather […]
Widowed
September Morn …
Stay with me awhile I only wanna talk with you Losing Jim has brought back many of the feelings I had when I lost Vern nearly 16 years ago. Of course, those feelings never really went away but were tucked in a safe space most days. Perhaps this is a blessing. Both of my men […]
I Think You’d Be Proud of Me…
There’s a trend going around where people are videotaping someone with their birthday cake. As they sit there, their loved ones put a lighted candle in the cake, and tell them what THEIR wish for the birthday celebrant is. Example: “I wish you happiness this year.” “I wish you continued success in your career.” “I wish […]
A Rewired Brain
I spent the evening with my mom, who’s just over the 2 year mark on being a widow since my dad died in 2024. The first year for her was chaotic and her health took some major hits so she really didn’t get a chance to even process the whole thing properly. So this year […]
Substitute for Life 👩🏻🏫
A little over a year after I lost my husband, I also lost my job. The DOGE closing of our main government client, where we provided media training and marketing support in Latin America, did us in. We hung on for about a year without getting paid, hoping and praying that the contracts were going […]
Dear September …
I am not asking for a new life Just a softer space inside this one ~Jess Baird I miss those days I had at the beach but it’s rather nice to be home. Even though I’ve considered moving, this is where I need to be right now. Probably not forever. But who knows? I’m […]
Coffee and Hugs
I’ve noticed as I get older and experience major life changes, friendships change too. Like all things, they run the gamut on the friendship type. Since losing Tony, I have also lost a handful of friendships I would have said were unbreakable before he died. I have mourned those friendships alongside my husband. But I […]
“I Truly Believe That I’m Going To See Him Again Someday” ~ Dolly Parton
I am so grateful I was able to visit Dollywood with Lynn and her family a few years before she passed. Dollywood is still one of my favorite places to visit, and I tell people it reminded me of going to Disneyland in the 1970’s / 80’s. It had an amazing feeling of being in […]
In With The Old 📜
We are in it! A new school year, new challenges, a new routine. Very different from last year and that is, in our case, not a bad thing. I am though, more exhausted than other exhausted days. For that reason, I decided to repost a blog from a few months ago where we got to […]
Ocean waves, starry nights = healing magic
My week at the beach was so very lovely. A beautiful gift to myself during such a special week. Two husbands. Two wedding anniversaries. Plenty of time to reminisce. To cry. To rest. To rejuvenate. And I do feel better. Much better. More positive. Ready to try to do a better job at living my […]
A BBQ Keepsake Found
I found something of Tony’s this weekend that I had searched for extensively in the year after he died. When he first started smoking a lot of BBQ, I bought him a small leather journal. He spent so many weekends practicing; different recipes, cook times, and temperatures. Smoke, taste test, rinse and repeat. (Almost 20 […]
Ah … the ocean
“The ocean is blue poetry written in a language the soul somehow understands.” Anonymous I am so very happy I decided to schedule this important week at the ocean. And I was wise to break up my drive into two days – and grateful my car held up through that especially hot drive through the […]