Grieving Gracefully
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The Unplanned Delivery
I wrote this over a year ago with the intentions of not forgetting the details and sharing with others. Here I am a year later reading it, and so thankful that I wrote everything down. I don’t know about you, but my memory doesn’t always serve me well. Seriously, when you experience a big life moment – WRITE IT DOWN! Going into this third pregnancy I felt like I knew what to expect. With the first two, my stories were very different, but both natural births. I was ready and praying for the same outcome. The truth is, no matter how much we plan and think we know what to…
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ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU
If you can read the title without hearing Mariah Carey singing the ever so popular Christmas song, I dare say I am impressed. It’s a cute love song, but in my head today, as I sat in the passenger seat pulling away from Allorah’s grave… it hit different than ever before. I have been overwhelmingly blessed today to be surrounded by such great love, and often I asked myself, “What more could I possibly want or need?” Truly, in the physical sense, I want and need for nothing, and I am so crazy grateful. However, in the spiritual sense, I have a need that weighs on my soul heavily. It…
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THE BITTERSWEET MOTHER’S DAY
Today should be different. This Mother’s Day I should be placing two candles on a cake. The fact that it’s even Mother’s Day at all should be merely a distraction as I focus on celebrating my sweet Allorah’s 2nd birthday. Instead, I am putting together a Butterfly garden in her memory, consoling her Big Sister that misses her daily, nursing her little brother that she will never get to meet earth-side, and trying to stay strong for my husband that’s hurting as deeply as I am. How did we get here? The question, “How did we get here?” echoes over and over again in my mind. It has been 9…
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CAN YOU LOSE LOVE?
Grief – why do we tiptoe around this word so softly? Well, I think the easy answer is because it hurts SO BAD! There are so many different causes of grief for example: You may grieving due to the changes that come along with being an “empty nester.” Your life revolves around those sweet babies for so long, it’s hard not to grieve what once was your everyday normal once it’s gone. You may be grieving the loss of a job. So many have suffered from the fallout caused by COVID recently. When your means of living becomes an unknown, it’s hard not to fear for what’s ahead for you…
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HOW GREAT THOU ART
Most of us have probably suffered in some way this past year, so let us look around at all we have to thank God for... but let’s not forget what all has happened in 2020. We can use this year to grow and give more honor, glory, devotion, and service to God.
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LOSING A SIBLING
They say a picture says 1,000 words… well in truth, this one says it all. These two girls shared the most beautiful bond and everyday together was this happy. One of the most heart-wrenching parts of our journey of grief is how it affects our 4.5 year old Ella. We plan to share how we told her once Allorah got to Heaven, and all the questions and heartache that followed when we weren’t able to bring her little sister back to her… COMING SOON!
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A HARD CANDY CHRISTMAS
Christmas is IT for my family! We live for that special feeling this time of year gives and always try to make it magical – especially now that we have littles to celebrate with. For the past 13 years that Justin and I have been together, we have always kicked off our Christmas season with singing the classics. One of our top favorites to sing is Dolly Parton’s “Hard Candy Christmas” The Dolly love runs deep in our home, and although we have sung this song a thousand times together – never have some of the words hit so close to home. We haven’t had the heart to listen to…
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OUR NEW BLESSING
Isn’t that our greatest desire for our children? For them to be the happiest they can possibly be and have their eyes set on God... well, my Allorah can see Him right now and that’s an awesome and powerful thing to know.
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THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME
How often do we forget to put ourselves in other peoples’ shoes? My family is hurting. Seriously hurting. It’s been a little over a month since our sweet Allorah Day joined God in Heaven. While “time heals all wounds” is a common hopeful statement, we feel it falls short of truth. To be honest, the pain grows worse each and every day we have to wake up to her missing presence. Once the shock wears off some, the reality is hard to handle. You find yourself having to look at pictures and videos just to feel that it was IN FACT REAL and a lot of days you can’t even…
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SHARING OUR LOSS
It’s as if I have always known that Allorah was too perfect for this world. The light that radiates from her soul was so bright that it always brightened up my darkest of days and even those of ones who didn’t even know her.If you were fortunate enough to be in her presence, you felt the pure joy that she had the ability to share so effortlessly. If you knew her, you knew why we called her a “spitfire” for her spunky personality. You also knew she was so loving, as she would blow kisses and hug anyone she could get her hands on (especially her big sister Ella &…
