The perfect ending: Ben and I together, sharing a sunset or maybe a bottle of wine. It is a quiet moment, one of shared tranquility, and it is in the silence that I am struck by the fact that things have shifted, and we survived some sort of storm. I will smile and reach for Ben's hand, then say, ... Read More
Moving from Trouble to Overcome
It was an ordinary work day for me back then. In my mid-twenties, I felt recently directionless - my only marriage prospect, a man I'd dated for four years, vanished from my life and started over with someone else. I had a college degree but no veritable work in my chosen field of psychology. The ... Read More
Death Creates Space Where New Life Flourishes
What are the tombs in my life? I have been pondering this since Holy Saturday - a day I used to believe got swallowed between the desolation of Good Friday and consolation of Easter Sunday. But I now know that Holy Saturday represents a powerful bridge between both desolation and consolation - ... Read More
Love Links Sorrow and Hope
I am awake early once again and it's Easter Sunday today. I glance out our back door. Dawn has not yet made its daily entrance; all remains dark, yet my heart fills with great hope in the midst of the black stillness. In many ways, it does not seem like Easter: no public Masses, no family ... Read More
The Act of Both Living and Dying
It is early morning on Good Friday, and I can feel the weight, the heaviness, of this day. Already I am entering into a sort of death as I accompany Jesus in my heart. It is death we most fear and hate; either that, or we dance with death in a macabre, almost diabolic romance. But death is a ... Read More
Fear Ends Where Trust Begins
I've been posting often on my Facebook author page. Thought I'd share with you one of my favorite poems and my thoughts about how it applies to the collective grief we are all experiencing:*** When Sarah was born, Ben and I had no way of knowing whether she would live or die. We still do not have ... Read More