Tag: griaf and loss

Lucky, Grateful, Bittersweet

“I feel extremely lucky, extremely grateful, and a little bit bittersweet too.” ~Wentworth Miller The mixture of luck, gratitude, and bittersweet is how I best describe my life. Each one plays a part in who I am today, but since the death of my husband and the subsequent deaths of my mom and dad, bittersweet…… Continue reading Lucky, Grateful, Bittersweet

A Love Story

Watching the Oscar-nominated documentary “The Eternal Memory” gave me a new perspective on my mom’s Alzheimer’s and my parents’ deaths. Director Maite Alberdi shares the compelling story of Augusto Gongora, a producer and editor, and Paulina Urrutia, an actress, a married couple in Chile, and their story of living with Augusto’s Alzheimer’s. Because the grief…… Continue reading A Love Story

The Memory Keeper

One of the things that makes Mike’s death hard is the lack of people sharing memories about him. The early days were full of shock and extreme grief. Because of the circumstances of his death and an encounter with a former client who made an inappropriate remark, I was cautious with what I shared. My…… Continue reading The Memory Keeper

Intertwined Grief

Watching my 19-year-old cat decline has stirred up so much grief that is intertwined with the deaths of my parents and husband. Although she can eat, drink, use the litterbox, and get up on the couch and bed, she’s slowing down and walking like an old cat. I took her to the vet last week,…… Continue reading Intertwined Grief

Finding My Superpower

I had never watched Marvel movies or had much interest in them. I tend to like independent films that are more story-driven than action. I recently attended a monthly free online workshop by Wendy Kessler on “Superhero Grief: The Transformative Power of Loss” by Jill Harrington. It gave me new insight into the world of…… Continue reading Finding My Superpower

Processing Grief

I started taking a course on grief and photography by “What’s Your Grief.” One of the things that have been very hard to resume since my dad died was using my camera. Most pictures I have taken have been with my phone, which is okay, but it’s not the same. The two women who run…… Continue reading Processing Grief

Grief Landscape

One of the prompts that I had in Writing You Grief was to write how your landscape had changed. When I was a child, I would watch scary movies that always seemed to have quicksand in them. I was always terrified of falling into quicksand, though I didn’t live in an area where there was…… Continue reading Grief Landscape

Because You Loved Me

My parents and husband are the three most influential people who shaped the woman I am today. Each of them lives on in me today as I wander the world without them. So I chose to write about how each of them continues to shine through the person I am today. Mom, the world can…… Continue reading Because You Loved Me

Living in Two Worlds

“The trick, if there is one, is to maintain both: wonder and sadness, curiosity and grief. Joy and the absence of joy. Overcome by neither, open to both.” I’m using this quote from “Writing Your Grief” as a jumping-off point to write on melancholy because I’ve learned to live in a world of both/and.  Grief…… Continue reading Living in Two Worlds

Found Poetry

Found poetry is picking an article or book and highlighting the words that speak to you and your story. I found inspiration from a New York Times article about Afghan women college students brought to this country to continue their college studies for the next two years. They have lost so much and dropped into…… Continue reading Found Poetry