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, ...
As I get farther and father away from the last time I held my husband in my arms, and the last time I told him I loved him to his handsome face I find a sad thing is happening. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
The older my sons get, the more aware they are of the void in their lives created by their Daddy's passing. Today my oldest participated in a capture the flag match led by the father of some of his classmates. ...
I've written in depth about dreaming about our departed loved ones. Early on, it was so hard to dream about my husband following his death, but once I did, they were oftentimes pretty amazing. One in particular really stands out, ...
This time last year, I had a feeling that things might be different for me a year from then. I didn't know how, but I made sure to make a mental note about how different things were going to be. ...
It is so challenging to be a young widow raising children alone. It is a lonely demographic and bearing that title can leave you feeling displaced. A little "Googling" online concludes that about 7% of the population age 18 and ...