I must start this blog with an assurance …unless you are forced into an unimaginable event; your brain will never allow you to really understand. But that mental limitation does not mean you cannot still add to your knowledge of this kind of life experience. If you are bold enough to try, this blog will not only help those looking at the unimaginable from the inside out, but the people whose viewpoint is from the far safer outside looking in perspective. As mentioned in the book, we humans are…..
For a period of time after Kalei’s death, grief took control of the part of my brain that normally generates a positive emotional state. Feelings such as joy, humor, happiness, etc. ceased to exist. As a result, my body was not able to produce the sound of laughter. I did not fully appreciate this (or even noticed it was gone for that matter) aspect of my grieving journey for several years. In the beginning I did not care about how my lack of…..
In the previous post I talked about how much I loved receiving angel gifts on a Kalei event day. Well, sometimes, when I am really lucky, I am gifted with one out of the blue. By 2010 I had finished a major project —the landscaping in my backyard. It was now the peaceful and safe sanctuary I had envisioned when I responded to a grief need to avoid as much of the outside world as possible. But the completion of…..
The morning of January 23rd my friend Angela called to say she wanted to wish Kalei a happy birthday ‘in person’. She asked me I would drive out to the cemetery with her. As I had nothing planned until the evening, I replied, “Sure, I would love to take you! What time should I pick you up?” As we chatted about logistics, I realized this day might actually be the right time to deal with a crazy need-thought that had been nagging at me for the past month. For some reason,…..
Over the past few weeks I have been working on one of those blogs that decided ‘it’ had to written. I have learned not to fight the writing of those kinds of blogs — the words will nag at me night and day until I put pen to paper and post it. Only then am I am rewarded with peace of mind, and a much appreciated sense of accomplishment. Sometimes I am lucky enough to get out in front of them…the words are written and…..
This may come as a surprise to those of you who only know me through my book or blog, but I can actually be a person of few words. There are many times when I think that a picture does in fact speak louder than words. When I look at the following images, I feel like they clearly portray the three lifetimes I have incorporated into my world. While there is sorrow, I also see the beauty and wonder in each and every…..
One of the biggest challenges I faced when writing Forever Kalei’s Mom was coming up with effective words to illustrate the unimaginable emotions and thoughts associated with grief. That same challenge was present when it came to explaining to my support system what I needed and did not need when it came to regular universe event days such as my birthday. What worked in my Lifetime Ago did not fit in my new world and different life but I was helpless to explain that. My 50th birthday (Chapter 22) is a perfect example of how…..