My mother is dead. She’s been gone for almost three years now, and yet, I still speak to her. Aloud. My lone voice greets the air with a “Hey, mom,” when her presence feels particularly strong. Or an “I love you,” after her memory springs vivid. Her spirit lives in and around me and so … Continue reading I Talk Aloud to My Dead Mom.
Photo by Jacky Lo on Unsplash ~Kim Libertini The cabin doors shut. My two little ones were all buckled in their seats with in-flight entertainment activities at their fingertips. The flight captain had just made his announcement for the cabin crew and passengers to prepare for take-off. I could feel the wheels rumbling as we began to accelerate … Continue reading Taking Off After Loss
I live in a part of the South where summer break ends as August begins. So last week my kids returned to the classroom and then returned home with a cold. I have it too. It’s not the lay in bed all day kind of cold. More the stuffy head and dripping nose kind. Yesterday, … Continue reading Welcoming Care
Photo credit ~me I take pictures. And I post them. It's something I did before grief but not nearly as much as I do now. Some might question the need to photographically document my life's moments and share. For me, it's a lesson I learned in grief. I have so few pictures of the people … Continue reading Captured Memories
This is a grief blog. The pages intended for sharing the hard journey of stitching oneself together anew after things fall apart. However, grief feels distant this morning. My little family (read: the boys and me) is on a summer vacation. We’re staying with friends in a house perched on a bay filled with boats. … Continue reading The Pause
Photo by Javardh on Unsplash At his memorial service, I wanted to leave those that had come to honor his life, with words that would resonate and offer guidance on how to move forward in a world without him. “Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the … Continue reading The What-Ifs, Have-Nots and Never-Wills
At least once a day a friend, colleague, or stranger asks, “How are you?” My normal response is “fine,” or “good,” or any other terse platitude that fills conversation. Today, because I’m feeling raw and brutally honest, I would say “I’m recovering.” Recovering from my last chapter in life and recovering the next one. The … Continue reading Recovering
