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There He Stands
He stands in silence, listening, without a word. Does anyone notice? Will anyone care? Do they even remember that he’s there?
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There Never is Just One
Family isn't always just the people who you live in a house with. A grieving widow may have lost her husband, but that man was a son before he married. He was "best friends" with some of the kids he grew up with; and oftentimes, he is a brother to siblings, a nephew to aunts and uncles, and cousin to many. The wife must be comforted, but it shouldn't be at the exclusion of acknowledging others who grieve with her.
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How to Help a Grieving Friend
I sat quietly back, sipping on the lemonade the pastor had brought to the house, along with sacks full of Chick-Fil-A, and watched as the parade of people stopped by my sister’s house. We were only 36 hours into this shock wave, and there was already a long list of things to do; decisions that had to be made sooner rather than later. Hours earlier, we sat with the Director of the memorial gardens where my young nephew would be laid to rest, picking out all the various elements one had to do before the burial. This was not our first experience. We’d unfortunately entered the world of family loss…
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Grieve with Hope
My nephew, the youngest of the 18 grandchildren in my family, is gone. He was tragically taken from us at only 19 years old — way too soon; way too much life he had yet to live; things he had already planned to do; people whose lives he would have impacted. I have met Grief before. We’ve come to be on a personal name basis over the years; each meeting as different as the personal connection they are to my being. There will never be a time when I’ll be comfortable it. I don’t want to get to know Grief any deeper than what I’ve already experienced. But unfortunately, Grief…
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Why I Get Nostalgic in the Fall – Part Two
I never really missed not having other extended family around during the holidays. And after experiencing the chaos, personality tensions, overcrowding, and the mess that was left behind when we did, I really didn’t understand the fascination of it all.
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Why I Get Nostalgic in the Fall – Part One
Growing up, there was an unwritten rule that every holiday had its own season, filled with its own family, church and community traditions. In the Fall, that meant starting by picking out pumpkins and turning them into jack-o-lanterns in October, highlighted by attending at least one Halloween party. Growing up on military bases, there was aways an event happening this time of year at the Community Center that we would attend. Back then, no one really thought about sanitary things like we do today. So doing things like bobbing for apples was actually a thing, along with other fun games that were big draws. They typically had age-appropriate activities in…
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In the Middle of My Grief
In the middle of my grief, she felt my pain; And cared.
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Do You Have the Faith of the Centurion?
Christians often use the functionality of a chair as one of their analogies about faith. Our faith is that the chair will hold us up when we sit in it. The thought is that without faith that a chair will do what it’s supposed to do, we would never sit down. That’s a fair analogy. After all, every day we sit down in various chairs throughout the day. But the analogy is also flawed if what we’re trying to show is an example of having faith in God. What happens when you have the faith for that chair to hold you, so you walk over and sit in it. And…
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Breathing With Your Mouth Closed
When was the last time you've taken in a deep breath of the outdoor air, blowing out slowly enough to appreciate the fact that you're alive, and that you are able to see, hear, feel, and be a part of life.
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Childhood Reflections on Memorial Day
Schilling Manor was a unique place. It wasn’t a typical military base. We were a small knit community of moms and kids who had at least one thing in common. Our dads were thousands of miles away fighting a war in a place the majority of us couldn’t find on a map. And when someone’s dad didn’t come home, we all knew. It impacted us all. Would we be next…to watch that car, filled with those men, driving slowing down our street?
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