grief
Losing a family member is one of the most traumatic life events; Families must support one another to endure the five stages of grief and get through it together.
Voyage to the Cabin
The old log cabin looks like a big brown boulder in the middle of nowhere, sticking out of the sea of blinding white snow and tucked away in all of these tall, white birch trees. It’s been 2 years since I’ve made the long, bumpy 41 mile drive into this mountain. I’ve been so absorbed in my own life, working to get the partner promotion at the local law firm, that I’ve missed our annual and spur of the moment “voyages” to the cabin. I’ve constantly been searching for every possible angle to win cases for the lives of the clients that I defend, that I haven’t even given it a thought as to what fighting for my own life would entail, let alone trying to actually live it. At least that was the case until 3 weeks ago when I lost her. She was so funny and the wisest person I knew and she wasn’t just kind, she was empathetic and not only calm but, peaceful. You couldn’t help but, just feel better in her presence. It was like the rest of the world and worries just faded away like an early morning fog does when the sun peaks above these very mountains. She had an answer for everything, even to the most impossible questions and she didn’t just listen, she saw you. It was as if she could see everything you’ve tried so hard to keep hidden. There were no secrets with her, she knew everything, even the dark things you didn’t dare speak aloud for fear that they’d start existing outside of your body, as if it were contagious. Thirty five years with her wasn’t nearly enough time. I should’ve taken time off, asked more questions, been more present. My grandmother was everything to me. She was healthy until, one morning she was putting in the earrings I bought her for her birthday this June, and all of a sudden she felt a pinch in her neck. She thought maybe she had slept wrong until the pain migrated through her shoulder and the heart aneurism, we had no idea about, took her life before I could make it to the hospital.
By Ashley Marjean5 years ago in Families
Visions
Sarah Rose Petersen 1/18/21 It was she who had taught me to visualize, all those years ago. Back when I would spend days, weeks even, propped up in bed or upright in a chair, grasping for each breath. The affliction of severe lung disease is a desperate one. It is a brutal and forced form of meditation. There is no option but to focus on the breath. The here. The now. Each breath is carefully orchestrated by muscles whose job it is to do things other than aid inhale or exhalation. The shoulders, the upper back, the neck. During these agonizingly long days of attack, she taught me to visualize.
By Sarah Petersen5 years ago in Families
The Most Significant Loss
With watered down eyes I wandered again onto our deck to find the periodic call of an owl that plagued my lonely midnight rituals. I didn’t care, I wasn’t sleeping, I was drinking, and the random hollering-screech of the unseen bird gave me a task second to drowning myself into unconsciousness. Every night I’d forget about the calls then just before the blackness overtook my mind a loud but subtle, “eeeeek” would pull me back to life. I’d sit up. Once so quickly I kicked red wine all over the couch having again to flip the cushion. I’d mentioned the night caller to my husband, my daughter, my mom, but I was the only one ever awake to witness the actual sounds. In my state, I could never identify an area where it was coming from, just a general direction. I heard it best off my deck but in the pure black of the mountain evergreen’s my jostled mind could not get a grasp on the cries that seemed to toy with me as fast as falling stars.
By Johnna Crawford 5 years ago in Families
Maria
Her hair was the color of squid ink, and sometimes on long weary days it formed into a bush like state. He remembered when he would come home to her sweet smile, or when her toys were scattered around in messy piles from her attempting to clean the room. Those were the days he missed the most. She was only about two weeks away from her 10th birthday when she didn’t come home from school. The rain poured so hard that day that the streets were flooded by noon.
By BurntToast5 years ago in Families
A Friend’s Grace
She just wants to be alone for now. Everything that happened today is all a blur. Losing a loved one is difficult, so it's hard to cope. Sarah leaves the house to quiet her mind from the constant murmurs of the dinner party. She closes the door as a soft winter breeze brushes back a wisp of hair across her face.
By Samirra Elsaieh5 years ago in Families
Just A Man. Top Story - January 2021.
He wasn’t the man she had created him to be in her mind over all of those years. It took time for her to unravel the theories she once smiled curiously, pondering while he would teach the class with his purely acquired life experience.
By Jill Ashlock5 years ago in Families
It Was Just a Dream
I slumped down on the nearest barstool and rested my head on my arms as I waited for the bartender to acknowledge me. I didn’t care that it was only 2:00pm on a Wednesday, or that this tiny, rundown, hole in the wall bar probably had more germs on its countertops than in its questionable bathrooms. I was at the end of my rope with no ideas on where to go next in my life and if anything called for a drink, I’d say that was it. Thankfully, the bar was empty for all but a couple of retired guys. The perfect place to contemplate my life in solitude and find solace in the bottom of a glass.
By Addie Avery5 years ago in Families
The Barn Owls Last Mission
The house had been empty for some time when Michael pulled in that night. It had been several months since his mother and father had suddenly went missing but he could not let go of the strange feeling that the answers to their mysterious disappearance were there, he just had to look. As he sat in silence in the running car, he once again went through the events of the last few months in his head as he lightly clenched the steering wheel. His gaze was vague and at nothing in particular. His golden-brown hair was a mess atop his head and his blue eyes were glazed over with tears. “What am I missing?” he sighed as the events leading up to that night flooded his mind.
By Diseree Lee Zacher5 years ago in Families
The Village: Part 1.1
I lay there motionless. Three years old with both my arms and one leg in splints elevated on slings. Every time I think about it, I can’t help but chuckle as the image of every hospitalized cartoon character comes to mind. I may have even had my head and face bandaged but I don’t recall. The events that led me to that cold somber room weren’t funny, but that is a story for another day. I remember constantly coming in and out of consciousness. Fading from light to darkness, then back to the light again.
By Sebastian Hill5 years ago in Families
Mac-N-Cheese
It was a typical weekend morning. The kids were already up and about playing rowdily in the living room, my son, wearing an eye patch, standing on the couch, my daughter on the floor begging him to let her read her book and stop pestering her. My fiance was off in the kitchen gulping down coffee in a futile attempt to keep up and I - I was soaking in the spring air on the porch (I already knew better than to try and pretend I had energy to deal with those two). Life was good, better than it had been in a long time. Sure my fiancé and I argued from time to time, a situation usually remedied the next day with MacNCheese and a Dr. Pepper (who needs flowers). And yes, the kids were definitely a handful too, but most of the time they were handfuls of joy. I had fought and clawed and sobbed through foster homes, abusive partners, and nasty break-ups to be sitting right there on that porch smiling at the sound of my fiance lecturing the kids in the other room. What sweet, totally normal, bliss it had been...and then the phone rang.
By Cat Wright5 years ago in Families
Life after death
My mother cried into her cupped hands words she hoped were comforting. “You’re too young to be a widow!” she sobbed. The frustration on top of the grief nearly tore me at the seams but neither her nor my father seemed to notice. My father 's poor hand was being crushed in a grip he likely hadn’t received in my 26 years of life. I suppose there’s a silver lining here that my parents' relationship may be reborn in the ashes of mine. Nothing reminds you of what you have more than the death of a loved one. I spent almost the entire wake standing by him, gazing at his peaceful face and wondering what he would say to me if he had a chance to say goodbye. I imagined the power of the car crash had jump started an astral projection of him into our bedroom, where I waited cluelessly watching a movie. Instead of happily munching on popcorn and hugging a pillow that reserved his spot between my arms, I would receive a vision of him and we would say goodbye. I would be shocked at first, jumping violently and spilling popcorn all over the bed. He would put his hands on my shoulders when I tried to run away and I’d calm down instantly. He’d tell me that he loves me, and he would tell me he’s sorry for not leaving work five minutes sooner or five minutes later than he had. Tears streaming down my face I would tell him I love him too, I would tell him that he had become a part of me and I would never be whole again. It helped to escape to a fantasy world where he still existed but it could never last. That night I hadn't cried, there was no popcorn mess on the bed and I stayed cozy underneath the sheets until morning.
By sandra pike5 years ago in Families
