Ahem. Me-me-me-me-me. Ahem. “People let me tell you ’bout my best friend…” Yyyeaah, lemme tell you about my buddy Zach. He once ate an entire box of dry Cream of Wheat. I wouldn’t let him drink anything because I was afraid he’d blow up. During his awkward teenaged years, he got tangled in my feet […]
Posts Tagged ‘grief’
Of Superhero Capes and Chemo
Posted: 9th April 2017 by admin in BlogTags: cancer, chemo, friendship, grief, healing, superheros, warrior women
I met one of my favorite people when she was just finishing up chemo for breast cancer. She was interested in volunteering at the agency where I work, and we met to talk about the jobs that volunteers were doing and the time commitment that might be involved. I’ve mentioned this before in other blog […]
Daring Crustaceans and Other Adventurers
Posted: 2nd November 2016 by admin in BlogTags: #support, courage, death, grief, healing, vulnerability
November 2, 2016 Five years ago this afternoon, I was at a local middle school speaking about LGBT youth and their developmental process. Earlier in the day, I’d learned that a former intern, my very first intern at Youth Outlook—Brian– had died, only 24 hours after learning about the death of one of the drop-in […]
Lights Don’t Go Out. They Just Flicker.
Posted: 26th March 2016 by admin in Blog, UncategorizedTags: energy, grief, healing, lightworkers, resilience
“You can blow out the candle, but you can’t blow out the fire. Once the flames begin to catch, the wind will blow it higher.” ~ Playing for Change, Biko, 2009 I spend my days with lightworkers. I think you might know the kinds of people I mean—those folks whose very presence brings your day […]
Family of Choice and Other Acts of Rebellion
Posted: 5th May 2015 by admin in BlogTags: challenges, family of choice, grief, healing, Ohana
“Ohana means family. Family means nobody is left behind or forgotten.” Simultaneous truths can be difficult to grasp, especially since we are engineered from the time we are tiny people to buy into binary systems on lots of topics. If we believe Point A, then we must not believe Point B. What happens at those […]
Finding Gratitude
Posted: 31st March 2014 by admin in Blog, UncategorizedTags: brothers, death, family, gratitude, grief, healing, loss, love
A yahrzeit candle burns in the kitchen and throughout the day, I’ve pondered the intimacy of sharing the experience of someone’s death. Intimacy seems an odd word and yet nothing more suitable comes to mind. This sharing shapes me. It might shape any of us, I think…the piercing loss that dulls over time to add layers […]
Conveniently Unconscious
Posted: 10th November 2013 by admin in BlogTags: grief, healing, loss, love
Less than a month ago, in the midst of planning for my agency’s gala, I reached out to a youth who had attended the previous year to see if she’d be able to join us again. Less than a month ago, she responded that she and her mom would be thrilled to attend. Three weeks […]
New Traditions
Posted: 3rd November 2013 by admin in BlogTags: ACOA, drugs, grief, healing, loss, mental health, traditions, yahrzeit candle
Over the last ten years, I have picked up a few traditions from my fabulous spouse and our kids, who happen to be Jewish. A couple of years ago, I was so proud of myself that I could remember the words for lighting the Hanukkah candles in Hebrew, which I do not speak, that it […]