• Comfort,  Grief,  Healing,  Mental Health,  Self Care,  Uncategorized

    Is it Time to Get Off the Grid

    Sometimes, you just need to take some time out. Get off the grid. And just relax. Sometimes, you need to think about nothing; nothing at all. Let the sights around you, and the sounds of nature or your favorite music, take the lead. Close your eyes. Rest your eye lids. Clear your mind…and your calendar. Why do we let life push us? Sometimes even push us over? We feel fragile….vulnerable…tired, as people keep making demands of us. And sometimes we require too much of ourselves? So stop. You don’t have to keep allowing the bricks of life to keep piling on. Stop. And do something different. Take the time to…

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  • Family,  Grief,  Holidays,  Mental Health

    Grieving Through the Holidays

    It’s here. That time of the year when your emotions might be shooting off in multiple directions at the same time. You’re up and you’re down; smiling for the photographs one moment, while crying behind closed doors another moment. Every year you tell yourself you’ll do better. That it’ll get better. That’s what everyone told you when you said goodbye to your loved one. But the years have gone by and the moments still come, some expectedly; that birthday, anniversary, different holiday seasons. Other times it comes out of nowhere. Was it a scent? The smell of a candle that used to burn in their house. A sound? That silly…

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  • Grief,  Healing,  Health,  Uncategorized

    Grieving Through Your Current Situation

    Three weeks ago, my doctor diagnosed me with hypertension! I wasn’t even there in his office for that. I was there for my four-month blood work monitoring since having my thyroid removed six years ago. But as they always do, checking weight and taking blood pressure is an every visit thing, no matter the reason for being there.  My blood pressure has always jumped around a bit. But up until 2012, following the issues with my thyroid, it had typically bounced between normal and low; only sometimes being a bit on the borderline scale. After the surgery, the bounce was more times borderline, some times normal, and at times high;…

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  • Friends,  Friendship,  Grief,  Uncategorized

    A Sad, Happy Birthday to My Friend

    Today, September 17, is my friend Kay’s 56th birthday. More accurately, I guess I should say that it would  have been her birthday.  The last time I saw Kay was over the Labor Day weekend, a few weeks before her 46th birthday. That was when she decided to defy what her doctors were telling her, and prove them wrong. Ten years earlier, Kay had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Several years and multiple surgeries, celebrations, and disappointments later, her doctors spoke those fated words that no one in the middle of a battle wants to hear. He told her they had done everything and there was nothing more they could…

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  • Grief,  Subaru vehicles,  Uncategorized

    The Journey of a Goodbye

    I woke up this morning, not really wanting to get out of the bed. Although I have had plenty of do-nothing Saturdays over the course of our summer break, I knew this one was the start of my new routine; at least for the next four months. Classes will be back in on Monday, and just like that, my days will be filled with teaching, research, serving on committees, and sitting in various meetings. And my nights and weekends will be consumed with grading, responding to student email, prepping for the next class, and writing papers. So with that, I reluctantly got dressed, and headed out the door for my…

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  • Family,  Fathers,  Siblings,  Uncategorized

    Happy Heavenly Birthday

    I know it might sound a little crazy, but whenever I buy and cut open a watermelon, it makes me think of my dad. My family loved watermelon. Fresh. Ripe. Juicy. The smell alone brings back memories of our summertime growing up. From being out of school, to being on vacation; as a child, summer meant freedom, fun, picnics, and backyard cookouts. We didn’t just hang out outside. We loved being outdoors; especially living on an Army base. Playing with friends, riding bikes around the block; even walking to the community swimming pool or the movie theater, with barely a dollar in our pockets, which bought plenty back then. I…

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  • Family,  Grief,  Photographs,  Uncategorized

    A Picture Paints a Million Memories

    A friend recently posted on her Instagram that she thinks her kids and husband are growing tired of her taking so many pictures of them. Then said “but one day they’ll thank me.” I couldn’t agree more. Somewhere along the way between my post-high school days and young adult years, I became the unofficial keeper of the family history, including pictures. I wasn’t as obnoxious as one of my sisters who “ready or not,” would shove a still or video camera in your face and take your photo or start filming, whether you wanted it or not,  I believed in the “grab your lip gloss, straighten your shirt, pull your…

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