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Walking Each Other Home

On July 7, 2015 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends / 16 Comments

Sharyn and I met in 1973. I’d moved to Hamilton, NY with my husband and our three-year-old son after Vic got a teaching job at Colgate University. I was pregnant and mad. I didn’t want to move away

Soul Care in Hard Times

On June 30, 2015 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends, Nature / 26 Comments

“No detectable disease on CAT scan. Better than last time.” I received this text message from my brother Jim as I loaded my car to drive to his home seven hours away. When I read the message, I

The Sacred Feminine in Nature and Friendship

On June 23, 2015 / Family and Friends, Nature, Spirituality / 22 Comments

My friend Gail stopped me at the check-out at Wegman’s Grocery a few weeks ago. She beamed love at me and told me she’d just bought another copy of my book to give as a gift. Of course, this makes

When Dads Die Young

On June 16, 2015 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends / 22 Comments

My Father’s Day story, “Running from Dad’s Death,” was posted at Open to Hope today. It’s about the last time I saw my dad, just a few days before his death. I was fourteen and scared, unprepared for death in a way I can hardly

A Ritual for the Seventh Season of Grief

On June 9, 2015 / Spirituality, Uncategorized / 30 Comments

June 3, 2015 was the seventh anniversary of my husband Vic’s death. I planned a day with an empty calendar. I needed time to check in with myself and see where I stand. Am I pushing grief or anything else under? Do I need to

An IPPY Award and a Promise Kept

On June 2, 2015 / Creativity, Writing and Social Media / 21 Comments

“I probably won’t go to the award ceremony,” I said to my brother Jim when I told him Leaning into Love won the Gold Medal IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Awards) for Aging/Death & Dying. The IPPY is considered one of

When Tears Tell the Truth

On May 26, 2015 / Family and Friends, Psychology and Mythology / 20 Comments

We met at the beginning of my senior year in 1966. I was a government major at Cornell focusing on South East Asia and China. The more war protests Vic and I attended and the more sunsets we

Bloom Where You Are Planted

On May 12, 2015 / Bereavement and End of Life, Nature, Spirituality / 13 Comments

My husband Vic died in early June 2008. Even though my heart ached, I was grateful for long days and spring green. Nature made it clear there was more than death to consider. There was wild growth,

Mother-Daughter Healing: An Alzheimer’s Story

On May 5, 2015 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends / 22 Comments

Hill Haven Skilled Nursing, 1999 My healthy sun-browned body lies in a hospital bed with railings. My pale mother lies facing me. I often feel like her mother now, holding and caressing her like a sick child. Mom and I became comfortable with

A Message from the Moon: Synchronicity as Inner Guide

On April 28, 2015 / Creativity, Psychology and Mythology / 33 Comments

I’m in a small country church. Someone turns off the electric lights. The full moon illuminates the chapel with soft apricot-toned light. Then they open a window to let night air in. I feel lonely for Vic