I mentioned in an earlier writing that I’ve heard the whispering of my longings since I was a little girl. I didn’t grow up in a space that encouraged me to listen to my own inner guidance. I don’t even know if that was a part of the greater consciousness back then. I do [...]
Ever since we knew we would be grandparents, our friends asked us what our grandparent name would be. That’s something I never really contemplated for myself. If I were to be lucky enough to be a grandma, that name would be the best possible name my grandchild could call me. Nonetheless, we played with [...]
What happens when your life is going along in a fine fashion, the way you envisioned your life going, no, the way you intentionally created it to be, and then something changes to seemingly spin you off the rails? “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans” This John Lennon lyric has [...]
One of the questions I find myself asking myself as well as my clients, is, How does your grief journey call you to a greater purpose? Or Where is your grief journey calling you? These questions have been crucial in my own unfolding and transformation along the course of my grief journey. Dan and I [...]
Nothing can knock the wind out of our sails like the approach of a holiday or a milestone day. Even after over 21 years my daughter’s birthday can bring tears. Mother’s Day is bittersweet. The year-end holidays can bring sadness. All of these occasions also bring immense joy and celebration too. I didn’t come to [...]
One of the gifts of my grief journey was realizing that grief is a lifelong journey. That idea may have been peripheral before Leah died, yet as I navigated the months and years after she left us, I became much more aware of how grief affects our everyday lives. Before Leah died, I had experienced [...]
“One day every that Leah touched will be gone.” This thought haunted me in the early part of my grief journey. It felt like if I no longer had anything that Leah touched that our connection would be gone. I knew that this was not true. For example, I have her key ring with me keys. [...]
“What is the unseen force that keeps people from wanting to engage (their own) grief and avoid those who are grieving?” (From Chapter 10, The Alchemy of Grief: Your Journey to Wholeness) The answer to this question is what keeps me motivated to help others engage in their feelings of grief, and be with [...]
All my life I had been fearful of endings. Endings meant I would have to change the way I did things. Endings were uncomfortable. I did everything I could to hold on to things for as long as I could. And then Leah died, and I experienced an ending that I couldn’t undo. It was [...]
Rereading this chapter was interesting. It took me right back into the feelings that I had as I was beginning to find my voice in the middle of my grief journey. For years before Leah died, I had been working thorough childhood wounds. Leah’s death created a sense of urgency that I hadn’t felt before. [...]
