Since the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas last week, I have been drained of emotions. I feel there are many Americans that feel the same as I do. My ask to you is to decide what course of action you will take to move the 50 Senators to stop voting along party lines. Personally, I want... Continue Reading →
Thich Nhat Hanh – Beloved Buddhist Teacher
My best memory of the beloved Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, is celebrating a Day of Mindfulness at Deer Park Monastery in Escondido in 2014. On my birthday day, too. I will be forever grateful that I was fortunate to listen to Thay teach that wonderful day. In case you are wondering, Thay is the... Continue Reading →
Help is Attainable, Inside Each One of Us #HelpingHand
This is not another looking back at 2020 but looking forward. I recognized that last year had it’s share of gloom, but the gloom I am referring to is the loss of lives, friends and acquaintances from cancer, COVID or suicide. The grief that accompanied each loss was, in many ways, different from the last... Continue Reading →
Learning from Loss #2020Lesssons
I honestly feel as if the collective world is breathing a sigh of relief. 2021 cannot come soon enough, can it? 2020 was a roller coaster ride of one discouraging event after another. And some of those events are still with us, at no fault of our own. Which led millions of Americans to go... Continue Reading →
Savory Squash & Feta Cheese Bread #Squash
I was craving my Savory Squash bread, which I originally posted in 2015. It was a year after Paul died, and I had become comfortable in the tiny house I moved into, comfortable in the tiny kitchen I navigated each day. I was comfortable again. But, if life teaches us anything, it is that we... Continue Reading →
Lessons Learned Give Me Strength in My Life #Trust #Instincts
Looking back the past five years since Paul passed away, I’ve realized that I have been through the ringer. Grief, loss, illness, more loss, more weird health issues. Then, the joy! Despite the fact that Zeke died from severe congestive heart failure and my determination to not get another dog, Murphy boldly appears. I am... Continue Reading →
Late Fall Reminds Me of Grief #GriefIsAlwaysThere
I had writers block this week! So much so that this blog post has been sitting in MS Word on my taskbar all week. Avoidance much? For those of you that know me well, you would be as surprised as I was earlier this week. November 4th would have been Paul’s birthday. Which is a... Continue Reading →
My New Normal Works for Me #Grief in the Background
Six months after Paul died in 2014, I moved into a tiny house in the Art District in Garden City. 480 square feet cocooned me in a blanket as I grieved for months. It was perfect back then, a small space to make my own, a small space that allowed me the luxury of not... Continue Reading →
Words to the Other Side #WordsofGratitude
Dearest Friend, I still cannot believe you have left this earth for the next journey in this thing we call Life. It just does not seem possible that one day you were here and then soon thereafter, you are gone. But gone does not mean anything more than the physical, does it? I remember when... Continue Reading →
Why Are We So Afraid of Death? #Grief #Grieving #GoodBye
Damn, just damnit. The passing of a friend before her time is weighing heavy on me since Friday. Not why but what the heck. Why are we so damn afraid of death? Isn’t it the circle of life? Isn’t death inevitable? We cry and mourn, and the experience weighs heavy on our shoulders. We also... Continue Reading →