They say the five stages of grief are 1. Denial 2. Anger 3. Bargaining 4. Depression and 5. Acceptance. If only grief were that clear cut. For most people - it doesn't work like that. Denial and Bargaining sort of came as a joint stage for me. Despite knowing that my husband was dead the minute I really looked at…
Remember when Charlie Brown used to say, "Good Grief"? Let's talk about good grief. What is grieving well......what can it look like? Since everyone is unique, the grief journey looks a little bit different for each of us. However, some things will be constant. We will miss our dear loved one. The pain is very strong year one, and…
I had nine bridesmaids. Sure, one was my future sister in law and my maid of honor was my sister, so that makes them technically family. But I would say they are also my best friends, family ties or not. And this wasn't a situation where I was roping in distant cousins to fill out the bridal party. I have nine…
Seven years ago, I was 34 years old and life was a lot simpler. Johnny and I had a small family, just us and our 3 year old son. I had always had things planned out, and had done things the "right way", my way. I worked hard as a full time elementary school teacher in Boston Massachusetts, and was…
Like many people I was happy to see 2016 go. I've seen the memes that 2016 was written by George R.R. Martin and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The amount of loss that 2016 brought across the board was staggering. From beloved artists, musicians, actors and public figures, to countless not famous people whose departure from this world left wounds of grief…