The disconnect between the past and the present, fearing guilt or anger, can be powerful blocks to growth. Re-establishing a connection with your child, including your child’s spirit in your present life, brings significant solace, relief, and a sense of permission to continue living.

Spring feels like the perfect time to focus on being present. Why? Trees are unfurling new leaves, flowers pop up with vibrant colors, and the air feels new. It's the perfect time to combine exercise and mindfulness by taking a walk enjoying the season noticing nature's changes each day.

Losing a child, at any age, involves so much pain and anguish AND it also puts things in perspective, softening our hearts in new ways. It’s been almost 20 years since Alison died and still I want to know that she is remembered. That her life meant something – that her life and memory made and is making an impact on others. My sense is I’m not alone in this desire, that most, if not all bereaved parents desire the same. And it doesn’t matter if your child was one hour old or 30 years old.

Yes, I was here last month writing about joy. Yes, this month is about anxiety. Life isn’t just one note. It’s a composition of highs and lows. And this is a place where I want to explore them all.

Why JOY? JOY is something internal - it's a soulful feeling of wonder and connection with ourselves, something bigger than ourselves, with nature. It "expands our thinking and attention, and it fills us with a sense of freedom and abandon...As researcher Matthew Kuan Johnson puts it, while experiencing JOY, we don't lose ourselves, we become more truly ourselves." (Brene Brown - Atlas of the Heart) After losing a child, feeling a sense of freedom and abandon can seem to be forever lost in the abyss of grief. I don’t know about you, but after losing Alison the thought of…

The holidays are a tough season for a lot of us. And not just the first year, or the second. I still have my moments close to twenty years later. What's different for me is that I’ve discovered what works for me and what doesn't. So I wanted to take a few minutes to share what I've found works for me…

Relaxing on my back patio one lazy hot July afternoon my text alert pinged, “This is it! You won’t be hearing from me for several months.” Because it was from a particular friend, it carried a context. We’d encouraged each other’s fantasies around the notion of leaving our careers in politics to follow some crazy dream. He didn’t end up going anywhere, but his text sent my imagination to another world.

Feelings. They can fill you with warm fuzzies and warm your heart. They can also be hard, uncomfortable and tempting avoid…especially if you’ve been grieving. Sometimes it’s easy to discount them as trivial or invalid. But they are yours and you are entitled to each and every one of them. Once you embrace and come to terms with your true emotions and hold them as valid, your job is to feel the feels.