Thank you for joining me on this writing journey. My goals are to share my own experiences of loss, help others who have lost someone/something they love, and inject a bit of laughter into the subject. We all need that! While I am no psychology expert or grief counselor, I hope that my stories will resonate with you, give you hope, and encourage you to tell your own. As Joan Didion famously wrote, "We all tell stories in order to live." I am honored that you've come to hear mine.
Growing up, I could never have imagined that I would be without the core of my entire family by the age of 57. I have lost my grandparents (who raised me), both my mother and father, a cousin that grew up alongside as my sibling, all three aunts, an uncle, and my little brother. My mother, Pauline, died on March 2, 2019. Jim, my cousin, whom I shared every day of my childhood and teenage years, died on August 28, 2019.
In 2003, my uncle and two aunts all passed within eleven months of each other. In the year my little brother died from a sudden heart attack (2014), I lost both of my dogs - Angel, a 14 year old lab/Dalmatian mix, and Shay, a 12 year old collie. These huge losses, especially my brother, changed me in ways that defy description. But, my love of story and the beauty of language moves me forward.
I hope you will continue to check in from time to time. These are the things I wish to explore in the weeks ahead:
Grieving for my Grief Class: Missing the New Family I Made Military Experiences and PTSD I Wonder What My Dog Named Me? The Loss of a Pet Loss of Home: The New Disaster & Trauma Psychology Growing up Without a Father Military Separations: Home & Family Loss The Power of Art and Story
Separation from God: The Illusion of Pain
100 Things that are Good about Myself
Bodywork & Chakras: Seeking Release
Buddhism and the Bardo: Residing in the In-Between
Living a Life of Compassion: How to Give it to Yourself in Times of Loss
Listening to Trees and Their Stories of Resilience Healing with Maps: The Geography of Loss
The Human Spine & Standing Tall: Dealing with Loss of Health and Limitation Rituals and Self-Care: How to Create Balance When We are Spinning
The Price of Kindness: Finding our Communities Movement, Wounds & Memory: The Body Toxic
Roots of the Earth: Our Lost Connections
When I Heard the Diagnosis: Ankylosing Spondylitis and D.I.S.H. Disease
Hospice from 3,000 Miles: When a Daughter Can't Come Home
Sound, Music, and Math: Healing while "Listening"
What We Have Misplaced: Connectors, Letting Go, and Nature
My goal is to write twice weekly, posting on Sunday and Thursday evenings. Thank you for being a witness to my story.
Blessings,
Jan
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