Dear Ryan, You would have been 39 today. It seems impossibly sad and entirely unfair that you’re not here to celebrate the occasion. But sometimes life is just that: impossibly sad and entirely unfair. Rather than thinking about what could have been – what should have been – I’m going to honor what was. Yes,Continue reading “On What Would Have Been Your 39th Birthday …”
Tag Archives: Dying
Dear Dad
Dear Dad, It’s been thirteen years since I watched you take your last, gasping breaths, your blue eyes going vacant as your body finally shuddered to a stop. And then … stillness. It was a haunting end to a haunted life. I was the last one in the room with you, dry-eyed until a doctorContinue reading “Dear Dad”
The Gift Of Getting It
“Unfortunate News.” My heart dropped when that email came through. Such wording can only mean one thing: Death or some other calamitous event. I didn’t open it right away. Couldn’t. And then I couldn’t not, the desire to stay safe in my unawareness almost immediately replaced by a need to know. Now. What unfortunate thingContinue reading “The Gift Of Getting It”
The Joy-Seekers
Just call us the Joy-Seekers. On January 1, my mother and I began keeping a collaborative joy journal — The Book of Joy Journal: A 365-Day Companion by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu (with Douglas Abrams). Mom was resistant at first. Rolling of eyes. Exasperated sighs. That look that seems to convey oneContinue reading “The Joy-Seekers”
Write Away / Write A Way 