The darkness will come, and it will envelop all that you are and take what feels like your very last breath to survive. It is all but guaranteed. Not one person escapes this life without personal pain and difficult days. We all know loss, we all learn grief. It may look different for each person but loss is loss and …
You are living without the person you can’t possibly have lost. The loneliness can’t be captured in any word, phrase or song. It’s palpable, breathtaking and seemingly void of all reality. It’s cold, cruel and takes your heart to a level of pain you didn’t even realize existed before death laid its cold hand on your barely beating heart. There …
You stand in a room full of the usual hustle and bustle of the holidays. Love and gratitude are the theme and memories flood in faster than you can process them. Sights Sounds Smells It’s all so much, and you are so tired at the depths of your soul. Grief is exhausting and the holidays are daunting. The people in …
The single hardest thing for me to accept on that fateful night after being told of his plane crash, where the many thoughts and fears that surrounded the lives of our small children. How would they survive without him?How would they ever be whole and happy again?How badly would they hurt for the rest of their life?Would they still be …
My late husband passed away in early October 2009, and within two weeks I dealt with my daughter’s third birthday. Six weeks after that was our first Thanksgiving without Mitch, and a month later, Christmas. Wow, talk about being hit with an emotional sledgehammer. The holidays are hard on people even without the added pain of grief. Please know, there …
The reality is you will grieve in some capacity for the rest of your life. Once loss touches you-you are forever changed despite what society tells you. Stop looking at the expectations of an emotionally numbed society as your threshold and measuring stick for success. By Michelle Steinke-Baumgard, ContributorOne Fit Widow After ten years of personal experience surrounding loss, I …
BROWN EYED BOY My kids go to school about a mile from where my husband’s plane went down. It’s an excellent school with a fantastic reputation, but for a few moments after Addy got a spot on the waiting list I had reservations about going there simply due to proximity. The airport is a busy one with 2 flight schools …
I CAN’T FIX THIS My son was 13 months when he lost his father. He holds no memories of his daddy and never asks questions or brings him up. He is a happy, well-adjusted, smart, and lovable five years old. He just also happens to be a kid who’s dad died way too young. Truth be told, I don’t worry …
He was one of the most important parts of my life for more than fifteen years. We traveled, we explored, we lived and loved. He made me his wife, and I made him my husband. We welcome two beautiful kids into the world, built a house and lived our dream. He held my hand when I cried, and he kissed …
THE HEARTACHE OF DONUTS WITH DAD AND MUFFINS WITH MOM Dear school administrator, I think it’s time we drop Donuts with Dad and Muffins with Mom. Allow me to explain why so many of us feel this way. I’m writing this letter to you on behalf of every single SOLO parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or godparent in this world. Some …