I’m nearing the four year mark of my mother’s passing. In a couple months time the anniversary of her death will arrive, as will the insurmountable grief that comes along with this darkened day on the calendar.  Knowing the incoming pain, I try to prepare myself. I sit outside and find the calm and quiet the outside air provides. I start talking to her. It’s…

She walks around with a grief she’s afraid to express. Unsure of how the world around her will deal with her sadness and longing, she holds it in tightly, scared to let it show. She carries a constant grief she’s afraid to express because pain and loss are uncomfortable. She knows this truth, which is why she hides grief’s influence and destruction.  She pretends well.…

“Truth doesn’t take courage.” The most recent comment to catch my attention on social media. The words of a complete stranger, yet I found myself immediately scrutinizing them.  Sometimes the truth does take courage.  Like when the truth means asking for help. Or when the truth means revealing the most vulnerable pieces of your soul. Or when the truth means exposing chapters of your story…

I used to think that people who passed away drifted above the clouds. That they were up there somewhere dancing and free and joyous. When I grew older and learned about the sky and the clouds and the moon and the stars that mindset changed. I knew the truth about what was up above.  But today, nearly four years after my mother passed away, I…