~Kim Libertini “It’s just a house.” These delivered words, seemed so flippant. When I look back to all the places I have lived, there are a number of dwellings that served the sole purpose of providing me a place to rest my head at night. Those were just a house. As I moved through life, … Continue reading House or Home?
Let’s talk about love. Love, sweet love. Because how can we talk about grief without naming what came first? Love is what got us into this whole mess. It will help lead us out. Love is the cause and the cure, and the warm-beating heart of our humanity no matter what form it takes. There’s … Continue reading The Heart Yearns for Love
This is a photo of Charles William Slaughter taken at his birthday party a couple of nights ago. He's the tall one, and he turned 0! Charles is our adopted grandpa. Over the last five years, he became a fixture for ice-cream outings, gardening projects, porch sitting, cartoon binge-watching, and Christmas mornings. Last night we … Continue reading Love Is Thicker Than Blood
~Kim Libertini I remember looking into the mirror and feeling complete and utter failure. As a child, growing up in a divorced household, I swore I would not do what my parents did to me. And there it was, this reflection of a woman that had just filed for divorce. I knew my choice would … Continue reading Reflection of Failure
As I attempted to crawl out from the rubble, I remember looking for support. I looked for the faces of those that I expected would be there. Only to find that I had lost many along the way. Years later, I understand why and how this happens. Back then, these added losses compounded my grief … Continue reading Gains
My mom was a blonde, standing about 5 foot 5 inches tall with steel blue eyes. Being adopted she and I share no physical traits whatsoever. She’s been gone over 7 years now. The longer she’s gone, the more I see how much, despite the lack of genetics, she influenced the woman and mother I … Continue reading Love Leaves A Mark
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
There is a special dish in my china cabinet that my children know I use when we have company. As I take it from the cabinet shelf and carry it to the kitchen, I can hear my mom’s voice. I think about her while I’m filling the plate with food and her face becomes a … Continue reading Treasures Left Behind
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
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