Fa-La-La-La Life

December 24th, 2014
Posted By:

Today is Christmas Eve and I am full of hope but also wrestling with conflicting thoughts and emotions.

merry christmas wreath

I am amazed that Christmas is almost here and yet as I try to finish the last bit of my Christmas wrapping and cooking, in my head plays a spontaneous feature film of Christmas memories jumping around in no particular order: from tender scenes with my brothers and sisters when we were children listening to Johnny Mathis sing Christmas songs through a wonderful Christmas morning with my son from last year.  Then it’s back many, many years to the precious time when … Read More

My Community My Peeps

November 21st, 2014
Posted By:

One of the most important things you can have when you are grieving is a community of support. We all need, and I hope you have, a group of people who offer comfort and understanding through thick and thin.  They care enough about you to know when you need the space for solitude,  when you need a shoulder to cry on and when you need a hug. They also know when you need a laugh and some good ole retail therapy.  Our human connections give us emotional strength and can help to renew us in times of pain and vulnerability.… Read More

Hope For The Holidays

November 19th, 2014
Posted By:

These are challenging times that we live in and for those who are in the midst of grief, the arrival of the holidays can make life a lot more challenging. Thanksgiving is next week and decorations and other holiday reminders are already popping up everywhere.  You may already be dreading this time of year because you know the holidays can be an emotional minefield.  Reminders of your loved one can sometimes present themselves when you least expect it. It can be a song, a smell, the house where you are celebrating or even a story that someone may tell.  It… Read More

A New Project on Amazon

November 12th, 2014
Posted By:

Hey there Resilient Readers: This morning I am very excited to share news with you about a project which started last year and is now completed!! It’s a new ebook about grief and I am included (Cry Laugh Heal is Chapter 21; don’t worry the chapters are short!) along with other bloggers and writers whose work I consider to be truly fantastic!  I am beyond flattered to be included in this wonderful project that we hope will help others in their grief. The book is titled “From Grief To Greatness” and it was written and organized by a great guy… Read More

A Poem Of Comfort

October 27th, 2014
Posted By:

Today I send heartfelt prayers to a wonderful woman and mother of three children who has been a close friend of my family’s for decades and is tragically in the process of saying good-bye to her beloved husband currently being taken care of in an ICU unit of a local hospital. I know that words cannot take away her deep pain but I send them in hopes that they may bring some small measure of comfort.  Perhaps there is someone in your life who is also bearing a burden of sorrow and is in need of words that lets them… Read More

A Lady From Spokane

October 8th, 2014
Posted By:

She was a rabid Washington Redskins fan, she took pride in her well-kept hairdo and manicured fingernails, and she loved to have a good stiff drink with a cigarette. She was also a cancer patient and a kind soul who would help you in any way she could. Sadly, yesterday morning, I received a phone call telling me I had lost my good friend to cancer. I had known this lady from Spokane for almost four decades.  I first got to know her and her husband when they lived and worked in Washington, DC.  Then they retired, bought a home… Read More

Lessons from the Spin Cycle

September 24th, 2014
Posted By:

Photo via Pinterest   Whoa Nelly!! I know what this feels like, don’t you? It feels unexpected, awkward, a little uncontrollable and intense. As though at any moment, what you thought was stable becomes unstable. What you thought was predictable become unpredictable. Mood swings, spontaneous crying and having feelings change very quickly. I think of experiencing this mixture of feelings as being in a spin cycle if you will. When you are unsure of what is coming next.  It truly feels this way when grief has you on the run or a life changing trauma has taken your breath away.… Read More

An Absolute Amazing Thought

July 30th, 2014
Posted By:

As a human community, we are constantly interacting with each other on different levels.  Working, playing, and collectively striving to figure out — often through some kind of spiritual activity — what it’s all about and the nature of our roles in this great journey of life. Yet as much as we think we know someone, I find sometimes that we only know the portion of another person’s story that they want us to know. By focusing and  listening to what others have to say to us and perhaps also watching how they react to various things that happen to… Read More

Final Resting

June 30th, 2014
Posted By:

When my husband died, (No matter how much times goes by, I still feel strange typing those awful words), our family felt comfortable choosing a traditional way of saying good-bye to him and paying our final respects: he was laid to rest in a beautiful coffin and we held a lively wake and Catholic Mass so that everyone could gather and share their precious memories of his short time with us. At that blurry point, our son and I were in the most vulnerable condition of our lives and so was everyone else who loved and adored him.  He was… Read More