Warmth, wonder, and pearls of wisdom drop into our lives when we least expect them, don’t they? Late this afternoon, for instance, amid a spectacular late autumn sunset. Warm sunlight bathed my face and waves softly lapped at my feet. This natural beauty overwhelmed so thoroughly that, well, I burst into tears. There was nothing…
Category: Remembrance
I’ve Looked At Clouds from Both Sides Now
Clouds carry the power of emotions like few things in nature. They all but cry out for attention and hold our gaze with their expressiveness and shifting forms and colors. How can we not look at these dynamic skyscapes? Now, I’ve never been a deeply spiritual person in the classic religious sense, but I’ve always stood…
A Sad Daughter Confronts the End of the Long Goodbye
A daughter knows when her parents need her. Each Sunday during this endless pandemic, my 80-something parents waited for our weekly call or Facetime visit. It didn’t take long for me to see my father’s long, slow dance with dementia was taking a significant toll. An abrupt and distressing phone call was not the way…
Brief Sabbatical: A Look Back and Ahead
A sabbatical usually starts with a plan. Not in my case. This latest one, unannounced and unanticipated, found me. My time away from the blog started with an innocent commitment to spend 2020 more offline than online. The year started well enough. However, three weeks into January, the flu followed by a nasty case of…
On the Move, Part One
There’s nothing quite so unsettling as a major move. Plagued by timing unpredictability. On guard for daily disturbance. We’re supposed to be adept at managing the sketchy, difficult stuff life throws at us, yes? Seasoned as we’ve been by heartache, isn’t that right? To a point. If ever I needed reminding that rational thinking and…
Prince Harry and I Agree: Bury Grief at Your Peril
Give voice to your grief, loss and trauma or risk being held hostage by it. If you agree with that assessment you’re in some royal good company. Prince William and Prince Harry to be exact. They got my attention in recent interviews about how grief and loss impacted their lives. Harry notably talked of how…
Identity after Infertility and Failed IVF
Identity — and the loss of it — loomed large 10 years ago as I sat staring at my computer. I didn’t know who I was any more. Scared. Untethered. Unsure of what awaited me. I stared at a blinking cursor. Heart broken. Filled with longing for what might have been. I nursed an overwhelming…
Treasure Trove of Truth: Blogging Infertility
Nine years ago tonight the blog Coming2Terms arrived on the scene. It started with a hesitant point and click … PUBLISH. The blogosphere in 2007 was still relatively new and more than a bit wild and disordered. It seemed the perfect place to explore taboo topics. Discussion about infertility and failed fertility treatment was, indeed, not…
Tenacity, Resilience and Grit
Resilience was Scarlett O’Hara’s superpower. There was a time when, like Scarlett in a scene from Gone With the Wind, I felt trapped in a bad dream — lost in pea soup fog. I knew I was off course, and it was far from clear how I would find my way forward. There was a…
A Look Back At How We Got From There to Here in the Blogosphere
This past weeks’ events and recent reading, as if added to blender, poured forth some new insights. In the days and weeks leading up to a busy set of family festivities (June birthdays and both a niece and nephew’s high school graduations), I received several warning emails from GoDaddy informing me that my Coming2Terms blog…