Back to Basics: We All Need Reminders Now and Then

Someone commented on a recent post that this month’s collection is acting as a kind of grief timeline and journal.

She’s right.

I see that there are some topics that never really go away-either because I continue to struggle with them or because others remind me that it’s oh, so important new grievers know they are not alone.

I realize the last post in today’s collection might feel dated because it was inspired by a world unsure of how to face a new school year in the midst of a pandemic but “Eight Ways to Help Your Heart on Hard Days” is worth another read.

Pandemic or not, we all need a little help from time to time.

❤ Melanie

2016: Beauty for Ashes

It crosses my mind sometimes.

And it’s a topic of conversation among bereaved mamas:

• Why fight?
• Why struggle on in this hard life without my beloved child?
• Why keep on keeping on when I am so very tired?

There are lots of answers.

Read the rest here: Beauty for Ashes

2017: No Mirrors, Please!

I hate mirrors.  Not because I’m ashamed of my wrinkles or my fat hips.  But because the face staring back at me now is not one I recognize.

I see someone who’s supposed to be me and can’t quite place her.

There’s a vague resemblance to the person that used to look me in the eye while I was brushing my teeth or fixing my hair.

But now, she is “other”, unfamiliar, strange in a “slightly off” kind of way.

Read the rest here: No Mirrors, Please!

2018: Permission to Grieve

You wouldn’t think we need permission from total strangers, friends and extended family to grieve but many times it feels like we do.

Odd looks, questioning stares and wagging tongues can make a heart doubt whether it’s really OK to do this or that while trying not to fall apart.

Well I’m here to tell you-ignore all that!

You have permission to do whatever it takes to endure this journey as long as you are not harming yourself or others.

Read the rest here: Permission To Grieve

2020: Eight Ways to Help Your Heart in Hard Times

Long time readers may have noticed that the past month there have been fewer original posts and more recycled ones.

I’m not sure precisely why, but it’s been a lot harder to put my thoughts and feelings into words than at any other time in this journey.

I’ve started and abandoned post after post. They languish in my “drafts” file and will, hopefully, eventually, be completed.

There’s just something about the rest of the world being forced to live in the no-man’s-land between what we used to take for granted and what we now have to face that makes it harder to talk about my personal experience.

Grief takes many forms and I believe the whole world is grieving now.

I can hear it. I can feel it.

Read the rest here: Many Kinds Of Grief: Eight Ways To Help Your Heart In Hard Times