There are days I simply cannot muster a smile.  No matter how hard I try, the pain in my soul keeps the smiles from being able to surface.  And since smiling is such an important part of human interactions, even around those who know I am grieving, I find it difficult to relate when my

Inspired by our trip to Disneyland when Jessie had an array of emotions expressed with one countenance, we created this in honor of her upcoming 2nd birthday.  We hope you all get as much of a kick out of it as we did making it!

When I am with other people it is not uncommon for them to see sorrow written on my face or to notice tears pooling in my eyes.  These are the surface emotions; they are easily shared with people who care.  Family and friends readily engage these feelings with me. However, it is only in solitary

So often my emotions in grief feel like a huge rubber-band ball. There are so many different feelings, all of them tangled up together and hard to sort out; they create a heaviness in my soul.  And it is as though I can’t get to some of the central emotions until I deal with the

This is Mason.  He died of a leukodystrophy today. This journey of losing our Jud Bud has thrust us into a community of people who are TRULY walking (or have walked) through the shadows of death—death of their beloved kin—precious souls born from their own flesh and blood.  I read daily about moms and dads

Driving AND talking on the phone… Isn’t this illegal in California now?!!??    

It has been almost 9 months since Judson died; the amount of time he has been gone equals about one quarter of the time he lived.  Yet, I continue to experience profound shock over his loss.  I am aware that the stages of grief are not linear, but surprised to keep finding myself stunned and

A good-sized earthquake hit Southern California today. Jessie and I were waiting at the mall to meet a friend for lunch when the ground began to shake as the earth started to quake.  We heard crashing up above as I grabbed my little lady and hustled to the nearest doorway. As patrons of the mall,