It’s June 4, 2020. Just 45 days until it has been a year since you died. I can’t believe I’ve lived so long without you. And yet, that is what my life will always be now — lived without you. The thought tears me wide open. I miss you like it was yesterday. I knowContinue reading “45 Days to Go: A Lament”
Tag Archives: Grief
Poetry Friday: “God’s Grief”
With everything happening in the world right now, I’ve been thinking of these words of Genesis 6: The Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved. The first time grief is ever mentioned in the Bible, God is the one who is doing it. Only six chapters intoContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “God’s Grief””
Mountain Care
Today the church remembers the servanthood of Bernard of Menthon. While he is best remembered for the dogs who bear his name, Saint Bernard is honored as the patron saint of hikers and mountaineers. Born in the early middle ages to a wealthy Italian family, Bernard left his life of leisure to serve travelers onContinue reading “Mountain Care”
Poetry Friday: “The Thing Is”
After a tough week, these are the words I have needed. Encouragement to pursue love and life, even as I think, “How can a body withstand this?” I love the way that Ellen Bass describes receiving life in the midst of grief. No flushed cheeks or starry eyes. That kind of love is from aContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “The Thing Is””
Meeting Rob Moll
Back in my college days, if you were a guy, you had to get past me to get to my sister. I was Rosemary Clooney straight out of White Christmas: “Lord, help the mister who comes between me and my sister!” Whenever my sister had a love interest, I made sure to research him wellContinue reading “Meeting Rob Moll”
Poetry Friday: “All You Who Sleep Tonight”
After seventeen years of marriage, sleeping alone in our bed evokes a deep, intimate loneliness. I miss Rob every time I turn off the light and slip beneath my blankets. Since he died, many nights I just can’t do it. I grab a sleeping bag and pillow and camp out for the night on theContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “All You Who Sleep Tonight””
When Despair Speaks
Many people who mourn don’t feel they can admit the darker parts of grief. The days they don’t get out of bed. The feelings of anger or hopelessness or desperation. Oftentimes, when a grieving person tries to share these darker places, his or her feelings are diminished or silenced by others. “There’s always hope,” we’reContinue reading “When Despair Speaks”
The One Who Lost Her Husband
“Oh, you’re the one who lost her husband,” she says as I introduce myself and shake her hand. “Yes, that’s me,” I reply. I wonder now if she caught my name, or if this single event in my life will be my defining feature, the one thing she remembers each time she sees my face.Continue reading “The One Who Lost Her Husband”
Reteaching Loveliness
My youngest daughter adores pigs. What began as an obsession with Peppa Pig cartoons has grown through the years into a full-blown love affair with swine. She owns a full pig costume, complete with snout, ears, and pig slippers. She fawns over adoptable pot bellies on Petfinder.com. She sleeps in a bed invaded by anContinue reading “Reteaching Loveliness”
Poetry Friday: “A Green Crab’s Shell”
As I child, I loved to collect shells on family trips to the beach. Walking along the shore, I added smooth stones, shards of sea glass, even crab parts to my bucket. A diverse assortment of seaside treasures. Inevitably, the crab shells and legs and claws I found so fascinating would begin to stink inContinue reading “Poetry Friday: “A Green Crab’s Shell””