Search Results for: blog he stepped up when it mattered most part 2

It Shouldn’t Be This Hard

Even when you love someone, it isn’t always easy to know the right thing to do. Sometimes no matter how much you love them it’s hard to know when love, support and sympathy are quite simply too much. It’s hard to know when love and concern crosses over into interference and hovering over our spouse or other family members. Sometimes it’s a matter of timing. We want to rush in and act and show our support but in the process don’t give the one we love enough space and time to process things themselves before expecting them to share the … Continue reading →

Black Clouds

Have you ever seen a cartoon or a comic strip featuring some poor soul who has a black cloud overhead following him (or her) wherever he (or she) goes? They can’t get a break. Everywhere they turn, everything they do, doom awaits. I’ve had days where I’ve felt like that. Days where no matter what I try, I can’t shake the black cloud. I know Wayne has too. Usually we don’t experience it at the same time, though, so whoever’s got the sun on their side tries to stand as close as possible to the other. That way we can … Continue reading →

Wedding Dresses: Buyer Beware

Several months ago one of the local news stations here in Nashville ran a story about a bride-to-be who couldn’t return her wedding dress when her fiance died before their wedding day. (I think this was back around the time my mom got diagnosed with a month to live and went into the hospice. Which is why I didn’t write about it sooner. I’m just now working my way down the list of ideas I had back then.) I don’t remember exactly how her fiance died. (I want to say car accident, but that might not be right.) How he … Continue reading →

The Animals Grandma Dorothy Introduced Me To

The last few days I’ve been thinking about my mom a lot. I think it’s because of all that I’ve gone through with Murphy lately. I remember how Murphy was always on my mom’s mind. She thought the world of him. Now with him in his cast and his cone head, I can’t help but think of how she’d react if she was here to see him. She’d be so upset he was going through all this, but she’d also love on him and cater to his every need. I guess in some respects she’d return the therapy he gave … Continue reading →

A Year to Remember

I don’t know where it went, but this month I’m celebrating my year anniversary being a Marriage Blogger. Confessions Last year, then managing editor, Heather Long, sent out a notice asking us bloggers if we’d be interested in either changing categories or adding on to any existing ones. I saw Marriage was one she was looking to staff. I’d guest blogged there a couple of times. I was interested in challenging myself. I asked if in addition to Pets I could also be assigned to Marriage. I alternated between jubilation and panic when her answer was, “Yes.” Okay, my wish … Continue reading →

Tabby’s Special Powers

Right after my mom died my heart hurt, but not to the extent it’s been hurting the last few weeks. I think I was sort of numb the first several days following her passing. I was exhausted, both mentally and physically, and to be honest, a little relieved. Knowing something’s going to happen, but not knowing exactly when, then to see my mom tormented in the manner she was…I was just thankful she no longer had to go through any of that. That none of us did. But now the tears everyone said would spontaneously start to flow for seemingly … Continue reading →

Yes, I Confess, I’m a Stay-at-Home Wife

Jade Walker is proving to be more than a muse to me. To borrow a term often used by one of my favorite literary characters, Anne Shirley, she’s proving to be a kindred spirit. And somewhat of a healer. I’m Not Alone Shortly before my mom died, Jade sent me a link to a new blog about caring for elderly parents with a note that said, “Remember: You are not alone.” She thought I might find it useful since I was in the midst of caring for my mom. It was easy to feel alone back then, but notes like … Continue reading →

Funeral Arrangements: Loyalty to Dead Wife or New Wife?

In When Death Does You Part, Then What?, I wrote about the funeral arrangements disagreement Wayne and I’d had. Somehow I got to discussing this with one of my volleyball cohorts the other night. “But what if you die before Wayne and he remarries? What if his current wife wants to be buried next to him? Or what if it’s vice versa and your new husband wants to be cremated and mixed in with your remains and spread somewhere?” Now there’s an interesting question. It’s hard for me to imagine being remarried. It’s even more difficult to think of Wayne … Continue reading →

Missing Grandma Dorothy

When my mom first came to live with us, I don’t think Murphy, Mr. Meow or Tabby knew what to make of it all. They knew who Grandma Dorothy was, but she lived somewhere else. That meant she’d come and stay a little while and then leave. But this time she came with two big suitcases, unpacked, and stayed. She left for a few days when the ambulance came after her first mini-stroke. But then she came back again…though not entirely herself. Still, Grandma Dorothy was like another stray I’d brought home. Murph and the cats accepted her, loved her, … Continue reading →

The Older Couple at Church

When my mom was living with us, Wayne and I made it a point to take her to church on Sundays. She was Catholic, we’re not, but the Sunday after she died, we made a point of going to her church anyway. It was part of our own private memorial to her. We arrived a little early and took a seat in one of the back pews where we’d sit with my mom. I immediately started looking for them –the older couple Wayne had spotted the first Sunday we’d gone with my mom. “Aren’t they cute?” he’d leaned over and … Continue reading →