Navigating the logistics of loss
It starts before you even begin to accept what has happened. Almost immediately, as you try to wrap your brain around the loss, the...
Thrown
A week ago this morning, I set myself up on my deck with a cup of coffee, the day’s newspaper, and my computer, thinking I would catch up...
The veil
Over the last few weeks as I have walked through the minutes and days of June, a thought has run through my mind. One particular thought...
A trigger I did not expect
It’s amazing to me how hard it is to predict how I will react in a given situation, or how I will be coping on a particular day or at a...
Hey, you know, flowers.
So. Four months have passed, and four friends are gone. January – lymphoma. February – brain cancer. March – metastatic kidney cancer....
Grief is physical.
My hair looks different to me lately. Over the last few months, it has become puffier on the top – oddly, only on the top. My hair is...
So utterly alone. So completely connected.
The day after my brother died, I started writing everything pertaining to him and his death in a blank book. Much of what I recorded is...
Recipe for managing grief over the holidays
Here we are once again on the verge of the holiday season, with many preparing to celebrate both secular and religious holidays in the...
In the oyster of obsession, you may find a pearl
On a business trip last winter, I got into a car to drive from Austin to Dallas, TX. I had all sorts of intentions for how I would spend...
People stay close in everyday ways
A friend was at my house on the fourth of July, and we were talking in the kitchen while I made a salad. As I started peeling a vegetable...