Heart to Heart

Because I know this loss very intimately, professionally and personally, I deeply appreciate how much it means to have a time to connect, remember and share with others who have been on a similar journey. The upcoming Summer Remembrance for Alzheimer’s and Dementia is a space to remember and honor your person. Whatever your journey and your person’s journey looked like, you are invited to attend the space to memorialize them.

A story was shared with us that felt too kind not to pass along.
The eight-year-old niece of Genna Reeves, our community liaison in New Mexico, created step-by-step drawing instructions for sea creatures. Her simple hope was to give them to anyone who is grieving, to help them feel “less sad”—especially for those quiet, sleepless hours.
It is a small gift from a pure heart. A quiet reminder that you are thought of with great kindness. We invite you to give these instructions a try and create a sea creature of your very own.

Grief during adolescence somehow becomes an adult of its own. Experiencing loss at a young age has had a profound impact on who I have become today. As a teenager, you are just trying to discover who you are, and after experiencing loss I never thought I would grow to be anything more than mournful. My Daddio died in May 2014.

Shortly after my dear, sweet husband died suddenly last year, I resurrected the following rhyming poem I had written to kickstart me on the second half of my life (as long as medical science cooperates until I reach the ripe old age of 148 years). Hopefully, it will be just as jam-packed as our marriage was, with all kinds of new and thrilling adventures, similar to the life that we shared for almost 50 years together…a true remembrance of my husband’s spirit.

First step alone, letting go, embracing the unknown: each action requiring conscious effort when grief, sadness or mourning create the texture of your life for such a long time. So often a day without persistent sadness seems to be followed by two or more days with pain and hold no moments of contentment or relief.

Facilitating a support group provides me with the chance to witness incredible courage and strength in those who are grieving. When I consider the fact that here are survivors of one of the most, if not the most, tragic event in their lives, coming together with people they probably have never met and sharing their deepest grief, is truly amazing. Whether their loss was one month, one year, or ten years ago, they are showing tremendous courage in opening their hearts to others. 

November is Hospice Appreciation Month. I have reflected on what that really means, to me, as a former hospice professional. It was an honor to work with families. It was a privilege to enter sacred space when someone was in their final weeks, days, hours and moments of life. I didn’t feel like I needed appreciation for holding sacred space and being a guest in each space I entered.

Hi friends……………………

We are now friends, fyi.  We’re in a club that no one wants to be part of. But I’m glad to call you a friend, for what it’s worth. Thanks for being here (even though neither of us want to be). Imagine I’m giving you a hug right now… because I know I need one, and can only imagine that you do too.

Dear Sue, Where and how do I begin to tell you what lives in my heart? I have let the music play right now as it did for the last year as we would sit together reading while you napped. I knew the rest was good for you and could never waken you before your eyes would open and smile at me. After the stem cell transplant, you never regained your weight, you never regained your energy, you never lost your bright smile or spirit to live. You endured so much to let me have all of the days possible with you.

My mom and I were best friends; best friends that fought and handled our emotions very differently but still…best friends. I will never forget the day she died. The phone call, the rush home, not making it in time, and the haze of the following weeks, and months. Death is so sudden, one minute she was here on this earthly plane with me and the next she wasn’t. She was gone and I was left to piece together a world without her. A world I still can’t figure out.