Stable: “adj. Resistant to change of position or condition; not easily moved or disturbed.” Stable: “adj. Maintaining equilibrium; self-restoring.” Stable: “adj. Consistently dependable; steadfast of purpose.” Stable: “adj. Not subject to mental illness or irrationality” (Wordnik). I never thought stable, in any of its definitions, would describe me. Yet, it is exactly the word my [...]
Several events over the last couple of years, including the death of Patrick, have really rocked my view of the people of the world. Each time one of these events occurs, the thought that sticks out in my brain is, "Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." (Side note: interestingly, this quote is attributed [...]
A few weeks ago I was talking to my friend Jessie on the phone. She and I seem to be on similar life paths. We were thesis buddies in college. She moved away, but we ended up getting married just a few months apart. And this year we found ourselves pregnant with our first child [...]
A few weeks ago I was writing an article on coping—more specifically on how sometimes coping feels like a failure in coping. After I was finished, I remembered that I’d written a piece years ago (2006 to be exact) on what I dubbed “failing and flailing.” I found the piece in my archives and considered [...]
Risk and failure have been on my mind this week, so I chose a quote on risk to feature today. Maybe I'll talk about failure next week. This quote is from Time Remembered by Earl Grollman. I first read it in Empty Arms: Coping with Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Infant Death by Sherokee Isle. Lloyd took this photograph [...]
A week ago I wrote about blossoms and thriving and how I've had to redefine so many words and ideas for myself since Patrick died. This week I've been continuing to think about redefining, but in a much more personal sense--trying to figure out who I am now, what parts of me are the same [...]
I wrote this piece on June 30, 2014, and have held onto it. I'm pulling it out today for a couple of reasons. First, I need a reminder of how this journey progresses--slowly, with a lot of bumps and unknowns and without realizing there's been progress. Also, though, I think right now it is especially [...]
This image was created for something else last week, but I thought I'd share it here as well. The quote is one I've seen several places. I took the photograph from the balcony of our room on the cruise ship during our honeymoon in 2012.
Today's Thursday Quote is taking a bit of a different spin--kind of throw-back Thursday, but also sticking with the Post-it theme for Post-its for Patrick. Remember me saying that I don't remember who left the first Post-it, or what the first Post-it was? I do remember some, though, that are the Post-its from the early [...]
I've been terrified of roller coasters most of my life. For the end-of-the-year field trip in sixth grade, we went to Great America in Gurnee, IL. Our teacher told us all year that to graduate from sixth grade, we had to ride American Eagle, one of the roller coasters. I remember being fraught with this [...]
