Category: Grief

Dealing with grief

Friends Help You Up When You Hit the Wall

Sign of the Times by Hugo Medina It’s invisible, so you don’t know when you will crash into it, but the wall of grief is always there. Friends who have your back help you get through these challenging times. This past week, I was doing something I have done for the past six years, which…… Continue reading Friends Help You Up When You Hit the Wall

Finding Grief Validation with Megan Devine

Grief is a complex part of life that we will all experience throughout our lives. I had experienced it with the deaths of my grandparents, relatives, and acquaintances. But it was only when my husband died that I fully understood the devastation of grief.  It also opened my eyes to the times that I thought…… Continue reading Finding Grief Validation with Megan Devine

I Carry You In My Heart

Copyright Jennifer Mullins The hardest thing about the death of a loved one is their physical absence. It takes the brain time to come to terms with a reality it can’t understand. And though Mike and my mom live in my heart, the physical loss can be staggering. After a brief respite of being numb,…… Continue reading I Carry You In My Heart

The Relief of Shared Grief

Copyright Jennifer Mullins Finding people walking through grief, who are willing to be honest about their pain, can be a source of comfort. I had this experience yesterday. Every day since my mom died, I woke up feeling sad. I had a meeting to go to and cried on my drive there. Once I arrived,…… Continue reading The Relief of Shared Grief

Grief’s Physical Effects

Seven negative Covid tests in the last few weeks prove that the symptoms I’m experiencing are from grief and not the virus. Tears are easy to recognize as an outward sign of mourning, and they have flowed often from the time mom went on hospice and have continued since her death two weeks ago. However,…… Continue reading Grief’s Physical Effects

The Grief Roller Coaster

Copyright Jennifer Mullins One of the hardest things about grief is its unpredictable nature.  Today I have felt every emotion: deep sadness, joy, numbness, and anger.  Although everyone likes to refer to Elizbeth Kubler Ross’s stages of grieving, they were meant for people dying, not for those left behind.  Grief is not linear, where you…… Continue reading The Grief Roller Coaster

Saying Goodbye to My Mom

I knew the call would come that my mother had died, but it was still excruciatingly painful.She died peacefully at home with my father and family at her side. Unable to travel because of a medical condition, I could only say goodbye virtually.It wasn’t the same, not being able to touch her hand or kiss…… Continue reading Saying Goodbye to My Mom

The Gift

Copyright Jennifer Mullins Photography Alzheimer’s is one of the cruelest diseases as it creates two losses: losing the person slowly while they are alive, followed by their physical death. It’s so painful watching a loved one go from a place of vitality to a shadow of who they were. I’ve had to deal with this…… Continue reading The Gift

Cherishing Life’s Moments: Navigating Family and Fragility

Copyright Jennifer Mullins I wish I could remember who said this on a podcast related to death. The gist was that some people’s lives are short stories while others are epic novels. There is no guarantee of how long we live. However, we get to choose how we write and rewrite the story throughout our…… Continue reading Cherishing Life’s Moments: Navigating Family and Fragility