My collection of essays was published by Sunbury Press in November 2024! Hans von Balthasar (d. 1988) wrote that “truth is symphonic” which is a phrase I quickly copied down in my journal when I first heard it. I see this collection as one light to add to the symphony of light that helps to …
Open to Hope posted my essay “Merry Go Round and Round” on January 22, 2024. I find winter a quiet relief after months of holidays and remembrances. The carousel of time is unstoppable, but I can give myself permission to hop on and off. “Paint was peeling from the horses and the roof was sun-bleached, …
I was honored that Motherwell magazine included my essay written as a letter to Mack. “Your blue camo backpack hung on the back of your desk chair with your Pittsburgh Penguins baseball cap on top of it for eight years. It was as you left it on the last day of school before the Christmas …
In June 2023 I completed the certificate program in the Author Academy, which is offered through the Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning. The 2022-23 course was a rich experience of regular classes, workshops, and opportunities to receive and give feedback. The highlight for me was working with my mentor, Leatha Kendrick, who is a …
The Compassionate Friends Spring 2023 webzine was recently posted. My essay “About Your Room” was included along with other poems and reflections for bereaved parents, grandparents, siblings, and all who love children who have died too soon. The PDF can be downloaded directly. These magazines are free resources, please feel free to share!
My latest essay ‘About Your Room’ is linked here on Open to Hope. It is written as a letter to Mack when we dismantled his room. Open to Hope is a terrific website packed with helpful articles and podcasts for all types of grief. They help to teach us a new language and way of …
Thank you to The Compassionate Friends for including my essay “Limp Stockings and Empty Chairs” in the Winter 2022 edition of their magazine linked here in full. The issue is packed with helpful articles and poems to help manage the joys and sorrows of the season. As many have written, we are a grief illiterate …
The Compassionate Friends posted my essay today for the many of us who experience a continuing relationship with our dead loved ones with gratitude instead of fear.
Re-imagining the Advent Candles
Thank you for continuing to love and remember Mack who died 8 years ago today. It still takes my breath away. How I long to see his teddy bear eyes and laugh together on the couch. I sense his joyful presence. I picture him running, his long legs stretched out, surrounded by friends, and I …