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

    The Healing Ministry of Presence

    I saw this tweet last week from Rick Warren, a pastor, an author, and the father of a son who committed suicide several years ago. That had to be so hard for him, his wife and family, being a pastor of a large church, a best-selling author of several books, including The Purpose Driven Life, and in the public spotlight for a number of reasons; beyond just the Church community. Grieving the loss of a loved one is hard enough, for anyone. But having to do it in a fishbowl of onlookers, had to be hard. That said, I will admit that I was one of the onlookers, not just…

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  • Friends,  Friendship,  Grief

    Birthdays and Memories. Life Moves Too Fast

    After looking at the clock twice, and wondering where the time had gone this morning, I decided I had just enough time to squeeze in an email I’d been meaning to send all weekend regarding a project I’m about to start working on. It wasn’t going to be a short one, so I grabbed my laptop instead of using my phone, and stared at the screen for a moment, trying to pull my thoughts together. Within seconds of sitting, any thoughts towards completing the email were gone. Instead, my mind was taken away by the iCal prompt that popped on my screen. As I stared at the two day advance…

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  • Grief,  Moms

    Another Sunday Morning It Was Not

    It was another hectic Sunday morning! My life had been on hectic overdrive for the last two years, and getting ready for church this Sunday morning was no different. I’d just sold my house earlier that month and moved back to the side of town that took me more miles away from church, but put me at least at the halfway point to being closer to my work. I’d not yet adjusted my “gotta get out of the house earlier” timing down; having gone from being less than five miles from church, to now being over 15 miles away. I was also still dragging; a little on edge; physically exhausted…