I was standing outside of the local coffee shop on a warm summer’s day when my cell phone rang. A familiar voice traveled the radio waves from Colorado to Georgia, “I think it’s time for you to come back here,” said Beth, my mom’s hospice nurse. My plan that morning had been to work. Order … Continue reading It Gets Better
Grief changed me. Not just in the obvious ways. Suddenly I own a keen awareness of the power of words, an understanding that a smile doesn’t always reflect happiness and a heightened sensitivity toward others. It’s unfortunate that people miss the way their words can be interpreted. For the most part, I don’t think the … Continue reading Digesting Words After Grief
You are not alone. There are people who get your grief. It may feel otherwise. Trust me, I’ve been there. It takes one person to change this. Just one. One understanding individual to reach out and say, “I hear you.” For me, that person was Kim. Kim became a rock when grief swirled and eddied … Continue reading Just One
Photo credit: Unsplash.com Along the shores of the South China Sea, where I was conceived by an American GI and a Vietnamese woman, Grit and I would meet for our first time. After being luckily removed in the last hours from Operation Babylift's first flight out of Saigon, which ultimately crashed in a rice paddy and perished … Continue reading Grit, Grief and Me
A while back, Asher, my oldest son who is six years old, asked "Are angels real?" It was a fastball without warning. "I've never seen one," came my unpracticed response that attempted to be honest without limiting or prescribing reality. But, it bothered me. I'd bunted -- whacking the question far enough away to be … Continue reading Friends
Photo credit: John Gibbons Unsplash.com Grief encapsulated me. Like a translucent membrane grief separated me and the outside world.It blurred my perspective, muffled everyday chatter and stole my ability to focus. My life was like an old movie reel. Each frame played without sound as if I was a spectator and not an active participant.I … Continue reading The Turning Point
Photo credit: Hainy Naibo Unsplash.com Grief is like a cup of coffee. In the beginning, it’s painful to hold and difficult to grasp.No matter how you carry it, it spills everywhere leaving a sloppy stained mess for all to see. Some days, it’s bitter and leaves an acidic feeling in your stomach. No matter how … Continue reading Grief Is Like A Cup of Coffee
Photo credit: John Reign Abarintos Unsplash.com Loss left me with a bottomless chasm in my chest. Do you have it too? It begins at the base of my throat and circles down to my ribs. Sometimes it feels like heartburn, an irritation from swallowing a ghastly morsel of life. Other times it more closely resembles … Continue reading The Void
Photo credit: NBC Studios Remember when Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James was released? Women in bookclubs everywhere were openly talking about passionate sex and deep desires. It catapulted a formerly taboo topic into everyday conversations. That’s exactly what the television series ‘This is Us’ has done with grief. Grief isn’t sexy. Most … Continue reading Grief Becomes Mainstream
Many years ago, courage came to me in a dream. And because dreams can be strange and fantastical, it resembled a soap bubble that floated into my open palms.“Courage,” boomed the bubble, infusing me with strength. Who knew how much I’d need it in the years to come?
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