To give full context of our family dynamic, we are currently blending a family (married September 19, 2020) that lost a spouse (me) with three kids, seven, six, and four, and one from divorce (Dustin) with a five year old….
The Man Who Came Next – Father’s Day with the Second Chapter
Marrying a widow who has lost her husband, marrying a family who has lost their dad, is a different equation than most. There is so much happiness and love mixed with so much sadness and a reminder of the loss. Because you are second, doesn’t mean you are less important; second only in timing.
Best Books for Grieving Children
How do children cope with loss? How can adults help them grieve well? Grief and loss as an adult is hard to manage, and is an entirely different concept for young children. Oftentimes the thought of death is just beyond…
Remembering Day – How to Celebrate the Anniversary of the Death of a Loved One – Love What Matters
Are you approaching the anniversary of losing someone you love? The anniversary of their death is often a brutal reminder and a day that is significant to pay respects. We honored Marcus in completely different ways the past couple of…
The Remembering Room – How You Can Help Children Grieve
Grieving a loved one as a young child is difficult, and it has been a mission of mine to help my kids (and their loved ones!) process as well as possible. Young children just don’t understand death (honestly, I struggle…
Blending a Family – Featured on Love What Matters
“I asked Eloise on the way home from school last week if she remembered her dad, who died when she was only 2 and a half. After insisting she show me her ‘daddy book,’ I asked her if she remembered…
A Guide to Managing Grief
Scroll to the bottom for a free printable of a guide to managing grief that you can print for yourself or share with someone who is grieving. The whole world is grieving right now. We are grieving health, stability, finances,…
Saying Yes To Help
Allow people to help. As soon as Marcus died and I could catch my breath, I started the most daunting task of my life: telling people. How do you even begin that conversation? This is something so horrifying, so shocking,…
One Year Without You
It hurts so bad to live this life without him. We are doing really well in spite, but it’s awful. The worst thing I would have imagined in this life would have been him dying. And it happened. And it still doesn’t make sense to me because he was GOOD. And godly. And loving. And honest. And loyal. And all that is so rare.
A Year Ago Today Was the Last Day I Saw My Son-in-Law
Grief as a mother-in-law is complicated. I wept for the son-in-law that I loved like a son. I wept for my daughter who lost her soul mate. I wept for my three grandbabies that lost the best daddy in the…
Vulnerability
This year could have ruined me. It could have made me lose all hope and reason for living. It wasn’t my favorite year, if I am being completely honest. And I haven’t even shared some other tragic things that I…