This is a place for sharing. This is a place for families. This is a place inspired by a mother's love.
The morning after we lost Dorothy, I woke up in the ICU terrified and alone. The memories of the day before tore through me like a natural disaster. My eyes flew open and that's when things became even more terrifying. I couldn't see. I reached for my glasses to remedy the blurriness I was facing,…
Continue reading ➞ Looking to the Past and Seeing the Future
Summer is over and I'm back to school. Kindergarten has started and I have a wonderful new group of students to teach and care for. Frances is spending her days at daycare and she is loving it. My weekends are full with family time, housework, and meal prepping in the hopes that I can be…
Ever since my daughter died, I have had a lot of people tell me that I'm really brave. I hear it a lot. "You're such a brave mother." "I don't know if I could be as brave as you." When I hear this, I worry. What if I'm not brave? What if I'm actually just…
Continue reading ➞ Inside Of Every Grieving Parent Is Bravery AND Fear
I reconnected with a friend today. A friend who, after years apart, had me laughing before she even closed my front door. She's the kind of friend who makes years apart seem like they were only minutes. She is also a friend who, in our time apart, has known her own pain, heartbreak, and grief.…
Recently I was fortunate to have my contribution selected for a musical retrospective on Vermont Public Radio . The prompt was to choose a song that represented a moment, experience or mood from 2016. I easily chose my song to contribute, but I felt so many other songs rattling around in my head that I…
By Mike Whalen Rarely do I find solace in religion or Biblical stories but I find myself reflecting on the Christmas story. Today we gathered to celebrate the birth of a child. This child, the Christ child, was born to suffer and die. Aren't we all though? Birth, suffer, death. Repeat. Mary seems uniquely positioned…
Dear Dorothy and Frances, Another Christmas day is coming to an end and you two have been in my thoughts so much today. I'm learning that being a mother of two can be a bit of a balancing act; one that I still struggle with sometimes. However, days like today I am again surprised at…
I love Christmas. I always have. I think it's the most magical time of the year. I know for many, the holidays are an incredible source of stress but I love an entire season devoted to helping others and spending time with the people you love. After Dorothy died, I found myself terrified of many…
Continue reading ➞ Finding the Joy (and Balance) in the Holidays