Having spent the better part of two years writing a memoir about how I learned (and am still learning) to live with grief, I can say for certain that grief isn’t exclusively linked to death.
Grief Research
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Life In (and on the brink of leaving) the Bubble
March 12, 2020: Jim had minor surgery. In the hospital waiting room, large bottles of hand sanitizer were placed on every table and everyone sat far apart from each other. It was clear we’d all heard of something called coronavirus, especially when I sneezed and the entire room got quiet. “It’s just allergies, I’m sure,” … Continue reading Life In (and on the brink of leaving) the Bubble
The Feeling that Will Never Have an Explanation
I’m writing this on February 28, 2021, and I hear a train a mile away as the crow flies. When the wind blows a certain way, its whistle is as loud as if that train was passing through the valley that is my backyard. On February 28, 1983, two weeks before my due date, the … Continue reading The Feeling that Will Never Have an Explanation
Play Guitar (oh yeah…)
After I do what I can with insurance companies and phone companies and assisted living facilities and banks, I turn it all off, and for thirty minutes, I read music, not emails. For thirty minutes, I’m a guitar player.
Waiting
I’m not the world’s most patient person, god knows, but I’m pretty happy with how I’m handling my impatience this week. My checkbook is probably not so happy - I’m a stress shopper - but mostly I’ve been buying Christmas and birthday gifts and cards, candles and dog treats, so at least it’s useful shopping. I … Continue reading Waiting
This One Has No Title
Turned 57 on August 14. As if 2020 hasn’t been weird enough, these last few weeks have been particularly weird. Maybe weird isn’t the right word. I’ll keep writing and see if a more appropriate word becomes apparent. It’s been a hodgepodge of things – both that I’ve made happen and naturally occurring – that … Continue reading This One Has No Title
Chelsea Handler Made Me…Cry?
Chelsea Handler has made me gasp in disbelief (“OMG, did she just SAY that out loud?”) and laugh until I cry. But never has anything she’s written or said made me cry cry, as in, real tears of sorrow. On Monday, Handler was on the NPR show Here and Now promoting her new book, Life … Continue reading Chelsea Handler Made Me…Cry?
Don’t Let the Anger Eat You. Please.
Around 2 a.m. this morning, Zuzu the Wonder Dog needed to go outside. Most nights, in a sleepy stupor, I open the door, she does her thing, and she trots back in. This morning, though, before I opened the door, I saw standing under the neighbor’s yard light the silhouette of a large buck. He … Continue reading Don’t Let the Anger Eat You. Please.
Grief Really Shouldn’t End. Here’s Why.
Recently, the husband of a dear friend was killed when a tree limb fell on him while he was working in his yard. A freak and random accident, it has left my friend stunned and so very, very sad. I’ve written many times in this blog about grief, and how it bounces in and out … Continue reading Grief Really Shouldn’t End. Here’s Why.
In 2018, Maybe Poetry Can Help
The Internet can be a brain suck, for sure. Then there are sites like Dictionary.com that can inflate the brain, sort of. For instance, the word “pajamas” comes from the Persian words pah, meaning “leg,” and jammas, meaning “clothing”. The British spell it as “pyjamas.” If I were in London, I’d still be in my … Continue reading In 2018, Maybe Poetry Can Help
Lynn Haraldson, Author and Writing Mentor 