To wear a ring or not … I never supposed it would be such a topic of discussion and thought. Before Tom died I was firmly on the side of remarriage. I think life can be long and lonely and if you have the chance to remarry, that’s a good thing. But I didn’t count on the feelings that come […]
Eleven years ago Tom and I were anxiously waiting to hear about a brother and sister that needed a new home. We were hoping ours would be the best fit for them. In July we got the happy news that our family of three was about to become a family of five. We knew there would be challenges, but we were […]
Talk about dislocation – try meeting up with college roommates, camping out in a dorm room, and attending classes at the university you attended two decades ago (and then some). There’s nothing like it for making you think you’ve somehow jumped back in time – darn all those changes on campus for reminding me that I haven’t really time-traveled! Last fall […]
We are at six and a half months and I find myself in another wave of grief. It’s a dichotomy, grieving, at least for me. On the one hand, I want to cope as well as I can with my altered circumstances. On the other hand, if I’m coping too well, then I start to worry – “why aren’t I […]
Awhile back someone posted on Facebook that they really disliked getting birthday greetings because they felt that some of their “friends” only did it because Facebook reminded them and thus it was fake. And all around me I see people who feel that they are alone because no one really understands their circumstances. I was reminded of a quote that […]
One thing I didn’t really understand before Tom died is how praying for someone else matters. I did it, but mostly on faith because it didn’t really make sense. I believe we don’t pray to change God’s mind – we pray to become reconciled to God’s will. So I didn’t really understand how praying for others fit into that. But […]
When I didn’t know how to cope with my new reality, I went to the internet looking for some kind of scripture study guide on the topic of grief and loss. But aside from things like “10 scriptures on grief” there wasn’t much. I wanted something more comprehensive. Eventually I just started looking up topics in the topical guide of […]
I couldn’t resist the title! So, two completely unrelated things going on in my life. Yesterday I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting (my congregation’s worship service). In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we have a lay ministry so sooner or later everyone gets the chance to be the “preacher” (although you generally share the pulpit […]
Read that title tongue-in-cheek (but not really!) I’ve shoveled snow 4 or 5 times this weeks and you would think I’d be sick of it, but honestly, I would rather spend an hour or two moving snow than figure out the evening meal and cook it. If we were a barter society I would totally have arrangements to have other […]
Back in 2002 (I think), when Tom called to tell me that his job had ended, I had a flood of worries fill my mind. How would we pay our bills? What would we live on? How long would it take Tom to find a job? What should I do? That’s only a small sample of the questions I had. […]