Posts Tagged: friends

Changing Up Holiday Rituals

November 24th, 2014
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My parents, some of my siblings and some of my in-laws flew to Ireland this past Saturday and will be spending Thanksgiving this year in different  country.

It should fun and interesting and certainly different for them as well as the rest of my family for now we are changing up the places where we will go to celebrate Thanksgiving this year and who we will have a chance to see on the day.  I must say that given the fact that we are a large boisterous family, most of us do try to stay flexible about the different ways … Read More

My Community My Peeps

November 21st, 2014
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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
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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

Danny Meyer: One of the Good Guys

October 29th, 2014
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Danny Meyer Photo Courtesy BravoTV I have never met Danny Meyer but I have eaten at two of his infamous restaurants in Manhattan: Shack Shack, which now has a location in Washington, D.C., and serves great juicy burgers and tasty crinkle french fries and Blue Smoke which offers fantastic Southern food, especially barbecue. Danny Meyer is the author of an insightful book, “Setting The Table” and owner and founder of 10 outstanding restaurants in New York City.  Business is so good at his restaurants that most of them remain open today since the first day he opened them for business.  … Read More

A Poem Of Comfort

October 27th, 2014
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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

An Effortless Way To Warm Your Soul

September 26th, 2014
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  Mother Nature may be transitioning us from the warmth and abundance of summer into the cooler and shorter days of autumn, but local farmers are still offering us the bounty of their summer work. Yesterday at the Farmer’s Market near my downtown Washington, DC office, farmers were still selling peaches, zucchini and my personal favorite: tomatoes.  To me, nothing in the produce world beats a homegrown, fresh and ripe tomato.  Tomatoes are simply the best!! Despite what the calendar says, tomatoes are still plentiful right now and can be cooked and frozen as sauces or canned and eaten months… Read More

Lessons from the Spin Cycle

September 24th, 2014
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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

The Ever-Changing Game of Life

September 22nd, 2014
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A Quote By Mary Oliver The wise quote above, written by Mary Oliver, seems on the surface to be expressing a rather obvious idea. Right? When I first read it, I almost dismissed it for I had brought Oliver’s thought into my mind too quickly and didn’t really let the underlying message sink in. Then I read it again and let it float around in my mind while I began to apply it to my own life. How many times do I go through the day rereading the chapter I read the day before?  In other words, if I keep… Read More

A Kitchen Dream Come True

September 19th, 2014
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You have to speak Your dream out loud.                ~ Kelly Corrigan Today is good news about holding on to your dreams and never giving up on them.  At the beginning of this year, I wrote about a dream of mine: to upgrade my kitchen (http://crylaughheal.com/dream-a-little-dream/). And guess what?  It is finally happening!! True to Kelly Corrigan’s inspirational saying above, I kept talking about it, researching it, saving for it and finally reached the point of giving the project a green light.  It’s been a bit scary watching the kitchen be totally demolished (I haven’t had a working oven, refrigerator or… Read More