This was my second birthday since Tin passed. Last year I was the big 4-0 and I wasn’t ever expecting to be a widow at that age. One year later and another candle on the cake doesn’t add nearly enough light to illuminate this shadowy part of the year.“Be gentle to yourself.” Is a phrase I hear often enough and I try to repeat it on the days…
memories
Another Year Without You
Soon I will have been your Widow for three years. Should I be good at widowing now? Should this feel “normal” to me now? Who knows. No one gave me a manual when you died. So, I am going by feel. I fumble forward on instinct. I hate your death date. November 15th, 2016 – you took your last breath and I fought to catch…
Second Season of Spirits
Holidays are hard for me now since Tin and my father are gone. They passed away 10 months apart and it is very clear that so much has gone on that I can’t process some situations better than I thought I would. Round 2 of the holidays coming and I’m worse than last year. I guess it makes sense. That whole first year is a blur trying to manage…
Mending the Quilt
Sometimes I am surprised by moments that heal my in ways I never imagined on this journey of loss. I met Mike because I lost Drew. And I met his daughter Shelby because of that too. And because they lost a wife and mother. And here we are, this new little family sort of scrapped together from the pieces of past lives. There are more pieces too……
Ghostly Conversations~
Your blue eyes are entrancing… You say to me. I love casting my blue eyes across a room and catching your green-eyed glance. You are the Love of my life, Sunshine… You write to me on a card tucked into the flowers you gift me. I shine so brightly for you. You are always in my heart and I love you with all that I am… Your words on a card from…
Wispy Love~
Whispers of you and I Echo in each pulse beat that brings life to my body. Reminders. Memories. Joy. Passion. So much Love. Each remembrance leads me into one room, then another. Each room crafted in the beauty of who we were, When you and I were a we. Shadowed corners that taunt me With your gone-ness. Your missing-ness. My emptiness. How is…
Diagnoses Date
We all know the dreaded dates. The anniversary of their death, birthdays, togetherness anniversaries, holidays but there’s one more on my list that adds another dark mark on my year – His diagnosis date.Tin just felt off like he had the flu or something. No strange symptoms. No sudden pains. Just an off feeling. He did complain that he felt…
Morbid Advantage
Today is Sarah’s birthday. Not Megan’s, not Drew’s. It’s not Mother or Father’s day, or an anniversary. It’s a day where the focus is squarely on her, and not shared with those who are no longer here. Or, at least it’s not supposed to be. The rub of it is that I’m a widower. Sarah’s a widow. Damn near every experience…
Ostracized Honesty
It’s time I dive into a topic that is always at the heart of gay men dating – HIV/AIDS. Growing up I watched as the disease came forth, took lives and drove the world to treat the LGBTQ+ community worse than ever. There was fear of being accused and harmed and there was (and still is) fear of contracting the disease. From my biology background,…
The Grief Summit
I haven’t written in a couple of weeks. I could say I’ve been busy but really it is because I didn’t feel inspired to write. Writing for me is very specific. I have to feel I need to write to portray an aspect of my life that might help another. I don’t want to just write anything to have something written. There is an emptiness to that…
Roads, Places, and Memories~
70. 20. 10. 65. 85. 60. 1. East to west to north to south and back again. The Oregon coast. The road to the Keys. New England. The Southwest. Deep South. Roads and directions and places and, most of all…memories.We…you and I…were everywhere together. I travel to as many places, the same roads as we did. I don’t go to places though. I don’t go…
Your Touch
Dear Mike, I miss your touch desperately. When you were alive my skin knew your touch by heart. I knew how you felt. I knew that the stubble on your cheeks wasn’t that rough; Your shoulders were wide and your chest was solid. Your hands were thick and strong. I remember that your nails were always kept cut short because you thought it…