Three ways you can make the holidays easier while grieving

Three ways you can make the holidays easier while grieving

The first year after my husband died, I approached the holidays with trepidation. Honestly, I didn’t feel like celebrating at all. I wanted to hole…


Navigating a new family

Navigating a new family

It takes courage to walk into a ready-made family and love someone else’s children…and someone else’s husband. You see, I married a widower with two…


The best gift to give someone who is grieving

The best gift to give someone who is grieving

I’ve tried to put myself out there in new, creative, and excruciatingly hard ways since my husband of twenty-five years went home to be with the…


Don’t skip the scary: 3 reasons kids need the whole story of Easter

Don’t skip the scary: 3 reasons kids need the whole story of Easter

Lilies grace each page, and a rainbow sunset paints the sky behind the silhouette of three crosses on a hill. Pictures of Jesus sweating drops of…


An Unexpected Legacy

Can someone you’ve never met leave you a legacy? I think so.  My brother’s birth mother made decisions that changed my life. My brother was adopted…


Helping your kids when the home is splintered

Half of all children in the United States will witness the ending of a parent’s marriage. Of this half, close to 50% will also see the breakup of a…


Helping our kids walk through painful anniversaries

It was August of 2018 that our four-year-old daughter was diagnosed with kidney cancer, had surgery, and began her treatment protocol. Even though…


Seven ways children react to grief

One of the hardest things after my husband died was not only dealing with my grief but also watching my children try to grapple with theirs.  My…


Today we say the long goodbye. . . again

Have you ever lost a child?  The pain, the grief, the disbelief of losing a child is something most of us have no desire to imagine. Even the thought…