Tag: Grief
-
Southern Cemetery Etiquette
A poignant reflection on memory, change, and cemetery etiquette in a small Southern town in this essay on grief. There’s a certain etiquette in Southern cemeteries. I turn down the long, grassy road just before sunset, when the summer haze has blended lavenders and dusty blues across the sky in the sort of way I’ve…
-
When You’re Older…and Everyone Disapproves of Your New Love
Self-portrait; one very happy afternoon, preparing for guests and the evening’s Life-Death-and-the-Universe conversations. Photo copyright by Lorna Tedder. Granddaddy’s been gone for over 15 years, but if he were alive tonight at 105, I’d want to ask his relationship advice. Not about a romantic relationship but about how to deal with disapproval of a…
-
The Dark Night of the Soul
Sparklers on the Fairy Tree, a fav of neighborhood children. Photo copyright by Lorna Tedder. The Dark Night of the Soul is a rather ominous term for something that happens in some lives, but not all. I believe that some people actually make it through their entire existence on the planet without encountering anything as…
-
“Get Closure—Now, Damn It!”
The dreaded 3 of Swords Tarot card, usually signifying grief, betrayal, loss, and/or sorrow. Photo credit by Raelene G; attribution license room with me, most of them backed away, not knowing what to make of my very public breakdown. We were all there for a 2-hour training session on the new Justification and Approval Guide…
-
Healing Old Wounds
Photo credit by publicinsomniac; creative commons license Healing old wounds of childhood trauma and self-esteem doesn’t come easily, but when it does come, it’s unexpected. Thinking back on my childhood, I might just as easily have been a child suicide. I remember thinking about it when I was nine years old, right after being humiliated…
-
Walking Away from Someone You Love (and Hate and Fear)
Photo by Lorna Tedder, copyright December 2006; Peaceful on the farm at sunset–a much gentler energy after Daddy died. I hated him. I loved him, too. But this is probably the first time in my life that I’ve been grateful that Daddy was a tyrant. It’s afforded me the opportunity to see his traits…
-
Is this Message for You? (Dark Days, Lunar Eclipse, August 2008)
Photo by macxbebe; creative commons license. Is this message for you? As my long-time readers know, I occasionally feel the need to give someone a “message.” Often I don’t understand the urge to write these words and have no idea what I’ll say until it’s on the screen in front of me or who it…
-
The Letting Go Song (Inspiration from ABBA/Mamma Mia)
I took my Broadway-Musical-loving Aislinn to see Mamma Mia a few nights ago so we could have some mother-daughter bonding time. I loved the movie–sucker that I am for musicals and reunion romances. It reminded me of when she and her older sister were little and I used to play ABBA songs while they danced…
-
My Garden Gives Me Little Surprises (Or Is It the Fairies?)
” Will you dance with me, Mother of the World?” — Sharon Knight Sometimes, you find things in your garden that you’d forgotten. Mother’s Day was a little strange to me this year. The girls gave me some terrific presents, and afterward I took the girls to the farm to visit my mom, which was…
-
Scorpio Moon: Is It Real or Is It Illusion?
Here’s a replay of a previous post about a ritual from 2005, just because we have double full moons in Scorpio with a Taurus sun for the April-May 2008 time frame. This was during my Cancer Scare of 2005–turned out to be a caffeine-induced lump–but I was just coming to grips with starting over and…