The blur of a funeral and a clear hope

10 years ago on Aug. 2nd, I was sitting in our church sanctuary staring at my 16 year old son’s casket. This isn’t a memory any parent should have, yet it’s reality for hundreds of thousands of parents around the world. I don’t recall much of that day. I don’t recall much of anything that...

Waiting for the other shoe to drop after 10 years

I attended the TCF virtual national conference this past weekend. It was tough. It was uplifting. It was hopeful. It was heartbreaking. There were so many emotions experienced in one weekend. I laughed. I cried. I heard stories of incredible loss and shared my own story of loss in each of the "Sharing Sessions" for...

Addiction outreach

I stopped by a table outside our local Hy-vee grocery store on Saturday. I don't normally stop at tables, but I had a sense that the three men who manned the table had a story to tell. They looked to me to be anywhere between 20-40 years old, and their speech polite as they told...

Ten Years of Child Loss

I post the same pictures every year. I post the same photos because there are never any new ones. Almost ten years have gone by (Dear God, I cannot wrap my mind around those words, that number of years!), but my son remains 16 years old in my mind because there are no more years...

The heartache of birthdays…and 26 memories.

This was a post I wrote for Matt's birthday (May 2) that I decided to publish. It's been sitting in my draft folder as I wasn't sure I wanted to share it. As I reread it tonight, however, I realized it was time to share it. #griefandgratitude 26. That's how old you'd be today, my...

Choked by grief

Four years ago today was an amazingly joyful day, the day our mom remarried. For my siblings and I, it was an incredible sight. We'd never seen our mother so happy. It's not often we're all together to gather, and this was a day that was beyond joyful. The memories of this day are something...