I had to laugh today while I was driving my daughter to work. "What?" she looked over at me, smiling at my random little chuckle. "If your dad were riding around with us right now, he would not know what ...
I came across a post I'd shared on Facebook on this day, just shy of three months after Bret left this life. Things still felt surreal as I clung to the remnants of what had been. We'd been together nearly ...
The Legend of the Dogwood According to an old and cherished Easter legend, the dogwood tree was once very different. It grew tall, strong, and straight — its wood firm and sturdy, prized for building. Some say it was ...
There is no timeline for grief; we grieve for as long as we need. My timeline, however, has a new update: I am no longer in any kind of active grief. I think I've been here for a while now, ...
I read a blog, "He Feels Farther Away," by Dorothy Swanson about what she calls “the middle” part of her grief journey. It’s the place we come to after the shield of shock has long worn off, the tears ...
In the tender season of widowhood, when days feel quieter and the familiar rhythm of shared life shifted, it's easy to wonder if purpose slipped away with your beloved. Yet Scripture gently reminds us God never wastes a life, a ...
Now that I’m retired, I love taking writing courses. They challenge me and make me dive deeper into my feelings - and they also encourage me to make more time to write. In my current course, called "Writing to Heal," ...
It wasn't too long after Bret left us that I * thought * I made peace with the whole thing. Or at least as much as I could have at that given point in time. I forgave him very early ...
I’m exhausted. I woke up this morning ready for work – I work remotely from home, thank goodness. And I didn’t have bus duty for my three kids this morning which usually has me up by 6 a.m. and outside ...
Bret's "angelversary" snuck up on me this year. At first, that shocked me. But then I realized that it has been nearly a decade, so maybe I shouldn't be quite so shocked after all. A lot of time has passed, ...