An important anniversary 👵

by | Feb 29, 2020 | Adult children, Comfort, Connection, family, relationships, Signs and Symbols

My mother was here from 3.13.40 to 2.29.96.

[This photo of us was taken on my 26th birthday]

This Leap Day is an important anniversary for me because the day itself, being rare, is causing me to pause and reflect. I am older than she ever got to be. I feel like it’s so important to make these years really meaningful, since I am blessed to have them, when she (not to mention so many others) was not. Keep reading

A Tale of Two Statues

by | Feb 12, 2020 | Adult children, Angels, Comfort, Connection, relationships

I found this statue at a local thrift store a couple of months ago. I immediately felt it calling and as soon as I picked it up, I could not put it down.

Has this ever happened to you? It was an immediate, strong connection between me and the little statue. The angel is pictured with two children, a boy and a girl (is what I see), which is also what I have. Of course, this is probably a big part of what drew me to it. Anyway, I love it. I have been keeping it on my bureau where I see it frequently.

I checked it for any signature or markings that might identify where it came from, but there were none.

Imagine my surprise when I found another one very much like it at a Goodwill Store a couple of weeks ago!

It’s a sort of a mirror image of the first one. The colors are different, and the angel’s hands are in a different position, but otherwise they are so very alike! This second statue sits on my desk. Keep reading

Primroses

by | Jan 12, 2020 | Adult children, Comfort, Connection, family, gardening, good grief, Holistic Healing

I used to buy a primrose every year in January or February and then plant it in the yard in the spring.

I first began doing this the year my mother died to honor her memory, and then continued doing it after that because it brought me comfort.

After a while, I had quite a beautiful primrose garden going. When we moved to a new house, though, I suddenly had trouble finding primroses that looked good at the time that I wanted them, and slowly my practice died off.

This year, I was just running into Hannaford to grab some groceries quick and there they were. All those pretty little primrose faces looking up at me, waiting for me. A beautiful yellow one came home with me. Keep reading

Drift Away

by | Mar 10, 2019 | Adult children, Angels, Connection, family, good grief, Signs and Symbols

I was scrolling through FB this morning and noticed this post on my friend Donna‘s page (by way of the Realm of the Witch‘s page):

I thought. oh, that was my dad’s favorite flower.

I scrolled some more and then I saw this post on Pieces of Soul FB page:

I thought, oh, that was one of my dad’s favorite songs.

I started wondering what the date was … and then I realized what was happening:

The Ides of March approacheth!

My father died on The Ides of March, March 15, 1998, about two years and two weeks after my mother died (both from cancer).

I realized that dad was saying Hello from Heaven!

So pay attention to the signs and symbols that come your way, or you might miss out on something important!

Keep reading

The BRAVE Interview #14 September 2017: Sylvia Wesley

by | Sep 8, 2017 | Adult children, Being BRAVE, Catching women being brave, family, Interviews, relationships, The BRAVE Interviews, Travel, Turning 50

Here is this month’s BRAVE Interview with Sylvia Wesley! Enjoy!

  • WHO are you? I’m a 61-year-old white woman—wife, mother, nurse, and pseudo-bon vivant!
  • WHAT is your One Brave Thing? Sometimes I feel like just living every day is a Brave Thing and it is difficult to choose a single event!  As a nurse, it seems like so many of my ‘brave things’ encompass caring for people—my dad and my brother, who both died of cancer; my mom with multiple surgeries; friends with HIV/AIDS.  As a mom I gave birth to twins who were 10 weeks premature and their first 6 months of life was pretty hectic, to put it mildly.  As a wife, still being married after 38 years could be considered brave—but probably the bravest aspect there is that I married a black man in 1979, only 12 years after the Supreme Court ruled interracial marriage was not illegal, and our early years involved some struggles in a very white New England. So, after all that, I decided to choose a joyous adventure as my One Brave Thing—I went to Burning Man!
  • WHEN did you do it? 8/28-9/1, 2006
  • WHERE did it occur? Black Rock Desert, NV
  • HOW did you make it happen? Mostly my daughter made the initial experience happen.  She had been going to Burning Man for a few years and always marveled at how awesome it was and she was sure I would love it.  So for my 50th birthday, I was given a ticket to TTITD (aka ‘that thing in the desert’).  Which meant I would be sharing camping space with 38,000+ other adventuring nomads for a week in rather hostile environmental conditions, and only knowing one other person.  A little scary having to be self-reliant in an unknown situation, camping with my daughter’s friends who only had her assurances that I was ‘fun, non-judgmental, fully capable of taking care of myself, and would not act like everybody’s mother.’  So I packed my bags and flew to LA.  We readied all our camping equipment, some party outfits, food and water for a week, and did a 12 hour ride/drive-share to the event with a heretofore unknown person.  After 12+ hours, in a very small mini-van, we were all fast friends.  Getting to and from is just as much of an adventure as being there!
  • WHY did you do it? For the adventure!  It was one of the best experiences of my life—the bigger-than-life art, the music, the people, the sense of oneness—all magnificent.  I came away with a whole new sense of self.  And as my daughter predicted, I would want to go every year after that, and did so for the next 7 years.  ‘Life’ has since interrupted my annual trek, and I have not been for the past 3 years, but look forward to resuming visits to my personal Mecca in the near future.
    • Keep reading

    The BRAVE Interview #10 May 2017: Andrea

    by | May 11, 2017 | Adult children, family, The BRAVE Interviews, writing

    Please enjoy this month’s BRAVE Interview with Andrea!

    WHO are you? My name is Andrea Maffeo and I am Karen’s sister-in-law.  LOL! I am a medical secretary and have worked for MGH Medical Group for 18 years now. I have been married for over 25 years to the most patient man a wife could ever ask for.  Honestly don’t know what I would do without him.

    WHAT is your One Brave Thing? My one brave thing is not something you would expect…….but to me it was my one brave thing.  It’s not something I did for myself like overcome a fear, it’s something I did for someone else. Keep reading