Why All the Tigers?

National Zoo (Smithsonian) in Washington, D.C.They may or may not have a gift shop largely dedicated to tigers,and I may or may not have gone a little “wild”… Why All the Tigers? Dear Friends, You may have noticed that tigers come up in many of my posts. If you click on the menu symbol in

BLAAAAAH

BLAAAAAH No Motivation, No Get Up and Go Dear Friends, One of the stupidest and most frustrating “symptoms” of grief, for me and in my experience, is when I have days where doing anything seems like so much effort that it’s not worth it. Not quite to the scale of debilitating depression, because I do

Heartbreak In My Stomach

(drawing credit: Sarah Warner, for MWAH2017) Dear Friends, There is a feeling I’d like to explain. For me, part of grief – not just sadness, missing Charlie, dashed hopes and dreams – is a truly visceral feeling. For me, emotion has always been tied to stomach aches. Not the kind you get with the flu,

Our Tiger Cub’s Blanket

Dear Friends, In my previous post about Dolly Parton, I mentioned that I had made a blanket, and that working on it helped me in my grief journey. This post is sharing that blanket!! It is a cotton blanket, crocheted with just single crochet. The interest is in the variegated yarns and which colors I

Movie Review: Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors

Hi Friends, Not long ago, I was poking through the DVD options at the library, for something to watch while knitting. I do this often, and, as usual, came home with a handful of titles that caught my eye, some of which I was familiar with, and some of which just sounded interesting based on

Breastfeeding vs. Male Entitlement

So just recently, a friend of mine had an experience that made me upset (and her more so). She was told by a relative, who had not said anything prior to this, that breastfeeding in “public” (in this case, at his home) was not ok. Could she please be more discreet and do it in

In the Right Place, At the Right Time

…Or, Why I Take Pookie With Me To Public Places There are many reasons I take Pookie with me, the primary one being that I feel like I need a little one to hold, and/or the comfort of a stuffed toy. I’ll sometimes take him just for company, but usually it’s because I’m going somewhere

Diagnosis: Heartache, Chronic. Ok?

Dear Friends, One of the things I’m learning (slowly) is to be patient with myself, and forgiving. I’ve never really been terribly patient! I’m sure if my parents are reading this, they’re nodding along. When it comes to grief, though, part of the “problem” that makes it difficult, is that there is no set of

Emotions & Childloss

Hi Friends, I will again start this post with the caveat: This is MY experience, and others may perceive or experience grief differently from me. I will start out by admitting I have always been somewhat of a dramatic person. I have always expressed feelings loudly and vehemently. I like to believe this is because