After my brother in law’s recent passing, the women in our immediate family came together at our sister’s house: our mother, four sisters, and my daughter. Due to geographical and logistical challenges, these ‘full attendance’ coven-like gatherings are rare and far between. We had no agenda except comforting our younger sister for a few days … More Mom As Seen Through My Eyes
Among many other and much more important things, the passing of my brother in law has been a sobering experience for me. You see, I have long held the belief that I would be ‘business ready’ if my husband would unexpectedly die on me: I’m (somewhat) financially literate, we both are well-organized people, I personally … More The Practicalities of Life after Loss
I cannot even begin to guess how many tears my sister has shed over the last 3 months during her husband’s sickness. I do know that there have been plenty. Even for me, going through this process as a sister and a sister-in-law, I can honestly say that it has been a long, long time … More Tears of Grace and Gratefulness
Three weeks ago, when the situation was very serious but even the doctors remained cautiously optimistic for keeping the disease at bay, my mom and I visited my sister and her husband. My brother in law had successfully undergone Round #3 of his dragon-slayer-level chemo without landing in the hospital and had even managed to … More At the End He Loved us All
The first outing was to the office of the funeral parlor that would handle my brother-in-law’s cremation. We dressed in ‘civil’ clothes – as opposed to hospital-suitable yoga pants and hoodies- and loaded into M’s car. M is my sister’s best friend. She and her husband are my sister’s housemates. For more than 3 years … More On the Therapeutic Properties of Soup and Girlfriends
– Please come. Please come now. - I’ll be on the next plane. Of course I would. There was no question about it. When your baby sister, the one you held as a newborn when you were a teen, is in need you jump on the plane. No question about it. I kicked myself. … More Procrastinating Trips of Sadness
A new year. Sigh. We can do this. I can do this. We’ve got this. It will even be a great year! Once I kick this funky feeling out. I felt fairly optimistic on December 31st but somehow and completely inexplicably, January the 1st has found me decidedly on the nostalgic side. It is silly, … More A Day of Yearning
Stella's Spoon 