A River of Grief

“Nothing that grieves us can be called little: by the eternal laws of proportion a child’s loss of a doll and a king’s loss of a crown are events of the same size.”        Mark Twain “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.”                                                                       C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed Sorrow is masterful at […]

Tragedy Lives On

My heart is still breaking. Perhaps not breaking, but crumbling. Since our friends’ failed death pact two months ago, not a day goes by that I don’t think of her and wish I could tell her something. I have a question I want to ask him. Then I realize again that she is gone and […]

Traveling with Grief

I’m duplicating this from my Mexican blog. I posted this three years ago today. I have learned through the years that bad news has a greater dimension when I receive it in a foreign country. I am a long way from home. There are people who “love” me – but do they really? Or are […]

Death and Tragedy

Death is a reality at our age. Not only are we facing it ourselves, but we lose friends and family regularly. Even though we are expecting it, it can be a shock, But I think of us as prepared. A niece has been close to death this week. Life supports were removed because of a […]

This isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon!

We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon. Franklin D. Roosevelt From the Buddhist perspective hope is the cause of great suffering, but I am an Enneagram Seven and I live in hope. (My husband‘s grandfather used to say “live […]

I am heartbroken. I am grateful.

“On the one hand, nature enriches our soul with its eternal beauty, on the other hand, it enriches our survival skills with its endless disasters!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan What is it like to be a participant in a disaster? I have seen many floods, fires, explosions and wars on the news but I’ve never […]

Keep Up the Fight!

“It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” James Baldwin My oldest granddaughter posted on Marco Polo. She expressed gratitude that as a family we recognize the most recent travesty in the United States – at least the most publicized one. The murder of […]

Muy Raro…y ahora se fue!

Herb was a huge part of my life. His death closes the door to the past but has opened the floodgate for many memories to rush in. I visited him a few times in his last weeks. Beneath the memory loss and extreme illness he was himself. He had a spark that I remembered. I […]

Young People Who Lost Their Lives (A partial list)

Emantic “EJ” Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., 21; Jemel Roberson, 26;       DeAndre Ballard, 23; Botham Shem Jean, 26;         Antwon Rose Jr., 17; Ramarley Graham, 18;        Trayvon Martin, 17; Wendell Allen, 20;       Kendrec McDade, 19; Jonathan Ferrell, 24;       Jordan Baker, 26; Victor White lll, 22;        John Crawford lll, 22; Michael Brown, 18;          Ezell Ford, […]

The Birthday

I acknowledge the loss… I wrote this in 2012. I wish I could say it was a unique occurrence or even the last of its kind. But alas… I am trying to do my part in understanding and eradicating racism. But then again, what is my part? It’s hard to know and recognize my own […]