Category: Coping with Loss

Grief Food: Oreos and Red Robin

I’ve been a baker since I was a little girl.  I always loved to do it because I could be creative with the recipes.  March 6, 2012, was the 100th anniversary of Oreo cookies, so we picked some up.  I hadn’t had them in ages, and they were a nice treat. When I was writing…… Continue reading Grief Food: Oreos and Red Robin

Finding a Place to Breathe

Copyright Jennifer Mullins I didn’t realize how shallow my breathing had become after Mike’s death until I found a place where I could breathe again. Grief is so physically oppressive.  It interrupted my sleep, made my body ache, caused me to suffer from anxiety, and kept me from catching my breath. I spent a night…… Continue reading Finding a Place to Breathe

45 Minutes

Copyright Jennifer Mullins At first, I never thought that I would stop crying.  The grief was overwhelming, and anything could trigger it. My dad had washed my towels, and S brought them to me.  They were rough and scratchy.  I sat on the bathroom floor and began to cry. That’s not how they were supposed…… Continue reading 45 Minutes

Kindness Matters

Copyright Jennifer Mullins Every act of kindness after Mike died, especially in the early days, made all the difference in my ability to cope with the immense loss and pain. We often think that these acts have to be big, but the small, quiet ones could bring me to tears. My parents flew across the…… Continue reading Kindness Matters

Write Everything Down

Copyright Jennifer Mullins There are so many hard things about death: telling my kids that their dad was dead was the worst.  As a parent,  you always want to protect them, but there are things that you have no control over.  Life kept marching on as we were all thrown into this new world that…… Continue reading Write Everything Down

When The World Changed

Copyright Jennifer Mullins Life seems so solid until the death of someone you love shows how fragile it is.  March 13, 2012, was the day that my world changed forever.  I had dealt with death before with my maternal grandmother and, paternal grandparents, family friends, but nothing could ever prepare me for the sudden death…… Continue reading When The World Changed