Latest Posts

A Different Kind of D-Day*

*Note: Jeff had a marked interest in WWII history. This title is both a nod to that and a hyperbolic metaphor for the personal devastation one feels when deciding to remove life support from a loved one. It is not…
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A Legacy of Love and Service

Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren.” ~Proverbs 13:22 (NLT) Around the time I married in 2002, I moved to the small town of Berea, Kentucky. I had recently returned to the Christian faith, and I was like a…
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Whose Wedding is it, Anyway?

Wedding ETA: 7 days, 5 hours, 30 minutes # Bridesmaids down: 1 # Officiants ill: 1 # Times kids have been sick since New Year’s: 2-3 (Abrie is in the lead). # Fires put out this week: 7 # Times…
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Today is Good. Rejoice!

When Emmy was small and going through a rough stage—I can’t recall which one, but I’d venture to guess it involved lack of sleep for us—I made the comment, “Someday, we’ll look back at this and muse, ‘Those were the…
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Race Day Musings

This morning, as I laced up my running shoes, I couldn’t help thinking of Jeff’s final 1/2 marathon race six years ago, the Wine Country Half-Marathon in Healdsburg, California. That crisp October morning felt similar to this morning (cool, yet…
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I Run with a Limp

Until last week, I had not participated in a road race in several years. Aside from a busy life, multiple injuries have plagued me and made running more of an exercise in futility than an actual exercise of the body….
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Google Maps for grief

Jeff was the quintessential travel companion. Truly, all his years in Boy Scouts and the Army paid off. He planned ahead to keep us on time (which I often sabotaged) and navigated our way through check-in and security to whichever…
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New Beginnings

From the nodding of sunny daffodils to the fragrance of flowering crabapple trees, spring’s color explosion always refreshes my spirit and reminds me of new beginnings. The signs of rebirth and renewal bear witness to and point to the restoration…
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But when you ask…

  Note: The original draft of this was written on September 9. I have kept most of the original but have tried to edit for clarity since Jeff went home to be with the Lord only two days later.  About…
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Birthdays and holidays

People always say that holidays and birthdays are the worst times for the aggrieved. If that’s the case, this month is a sadness superfecta with grief “land mines” sprinkled all over. Last weekend, my family celebrated Thanksgiving and Jeff’s birthday,…
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