Patience & Fortitude

Grieving Futures: Part #17: The Happy Ending

We all want the Happy Ending, no matter how unlikely. I am still looking for it, and in the meantime, I own boxes and boxes of my parents’ keepsakes that I do not know what to do with. They were a unique sort of pack rats, keeping documents more than things, so...

Grieving Futures, Part #15: Recuperation

I have avoided using the word “recover” in this book, for several reasons. First, I do not want to present grief as some sort of temporary illness that will eventually go away with no lasting effects. Second, recovery in common usage is often linked to...

Grieving Futures, Part #14: The Lonely Codependent

As they say, every unhappy family is miserable in their own unique way. While I was blessed with parents who truly loved and treasured me, they themselves were cursed with serious demons that impacted how they lived their lives, how they raised me, and even how they...

Grieving Futures, part #13: Paperwork and Ribbons

A friend of mine once commented disparagingly on car memorials stickers (where someone puts a tombstone text on the window of their car, e.g. “Sue York, 1942-1994, Loving Wife and Mother”), saying they were tacky and cheap. It is not something I would do...