Through tears she asks, “Does the pain ever go away?” She misses her mother and I also know the unique and powerful void. I wish I could tell her it does, but that isn’t the truth. I wish I could ease her pain and comfort her heart, but I know those are impossible tasks.  I hug her tightly without saying a word. In time I’ll…

I’m drifting down a winding road full of only trees and wildlife. There is a blanket of fog drifting across my path. If I didn’t know better, I would think I was in the middle of a forest and not an inner city road in Indiana. It’s our neighborhood’s little hidden gift, the way it feels like both the country and the city. Like most…

Like walking into a store and asking which aisle you’ll find the item you’re looking for, she leans over to me and boldly asks: “How do I get to the other side? How do I move from this spot and this pain? How can I get to the next destination on my journey?” Right now I wish I was a mapmaker but I’m not. I’m…

I don’t want my grief and my broken heart to be the loudest thing about me. I don’t want to be known by the loss I’ve experienced or the pain that I now carry. I don’t want to be known as the girl whose mother is dead, a girl who is mere pieces of who she used to be. I don’t want my sadness or…