If you’ve read my first novel, The Australian Pen Pal, you know that the main character, Rachel, stumbles on a cathedral in Sydney, Australia, and buys a rosary in the gift shop. What few people know is that Rachel’s experience is based on my own foray into a cathedral two years ago when I last traveled Down Under. (To find out why the rosary is significant, you’ll have to read the book!) After the trip, the rosary sat on my desk until this past spring when I thought it was time to…

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Today I sit knowing my life will never be the same. The places I go, the people I see all remind me of you. My reality is forever changed. 

   I don't know how to move on or even if I really want to. I feel a tugging deep in my soul. I believe God is attempting to open doors for me and I'm afraid to go through. Without you by my…

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My husband Joe and I were married 37 years.  He is gone now and he was only 68 yrs. old.  He was never really sick, and was 100% disabled from the military.  He died suddenly of a massave heart attack.  I am in such shock, and I can't stop crying, and I can't seem to eat on a regular basis. I don't mean to complain, but I don't know what to do.  We have 9 children between us, and they were all here at the time it happened.  And 2 daughters live near me. Every night my daughter comes here after… Continue

What brings you here...I am feeling pretty good today,  yesterday my daughter brought a friend over with her little boys, 2 and 3 years old.  They were so sweet and wanted to eat all my tootsie pops.  It was a wonderful feeling having children at my home enjoying the outdoors swimming in the pool and one told me he loved me.  I just met them, that in its self was glorious!  God does work in many ways, he knows that I need children in my life. 

  I think of Mom and Dad everyday and my…

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It's been a year, and I still miss you as much as the day you passed away. I know I am speaking the same for Lisa.

I miss our weekly or bi-weekly phone calls. It seems at times that I almost think I should call you and…

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Watching shooting stars pass through Leo’s heart

As constellations dance in a celestial waltz

Seven sisters shed tears as I mourn my…

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It is unbelievable how quickly you were taken from us. One moment you were here, and the next moment you were gone -- leaving us devastated. You were one of the most interesting people I have ever known, or will ever know. You could talk about so many things -- dance, music, books, movies, the Catholic Church, photography, astronomy, history, softball, cheerleading, and yes, even professional wrestling. I miss talking to you. I miss…

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I lost my brother by suicide recently. I feel like i should have known, but there is nothing i can do to change events passed. The pain i feel goes deeper than physical pain, it imbeds itself deep in my heart like cancer; like its terminal. I am addicted to opioids, alcohol, benzodiazepines. This is not what my brother wanted for me, yet my heart is shattered because he left me, alone. It was me and him against the world, but now he is gone, he left me. He was the closest person i had, and… Continue

Hi Amy, we came to visit Sat with your niece Cecelia. She is so inquisitive and kept asking, why? why? in such a cute voice to our telling her you and all those there are in heaven. Again, she asked, why?

WE dont know what to tell her, but told her GOD needed you all.

We then put a gummie bear for you and made her think you came to get it while we walked around a bit. She is so adorable and you would have loved to be with her. She looks just like you, even tho she is your…

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Each year, as July 25 rolls around, my husband and I begin planning how we are going to celebrate my mother’s birthday with a lobster dinner. In Virginia, my sister does the same thing as does my brother in South Carolina.



Why lobster? Because no one we’ve ever known before or since could pick a lobster cleaner than Suzanne “Hebe” Moeller Soper. She perfected handling of lobster “crackers” and picks to get any and every edible morsel out of the shell. Out of each skinny leg… Continue

Often after a loss in my life, I find myself digging through my mental archives trying to remember conversations and experiences with the person who just died. And many times I am disappointed at how little I remember. I can’t remember the many discussions…

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We adults have a lot to offer teens by way of experience so we expect teens to learn from us. And yet there are times when adults can learn from them.

 

When a teenager dies, it’s often a teen’s first experience with death. Teens grieve for their peers differently than adults and some of their practices are healthy. Here’s what adults can learn from teens:

 

1. Teens grieve in groups. They congregate together during the funeral and afterwards. They…

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