The house, our house, is meant to be a place to heal rather than divide. It keeps the table where we should sit and discuss. Something, we dream, that should stand for ages long after our footsteps disappear from the Earth's fields.
Category: Photography
A Poem: These Gifts Given in Times of Black Ice
My favorite Christmas picture of Corrie from 2017. The poem below is written as a "thank you" to so many people who sent us cards, messages, or gifts in support of our journey without Corrie. This is a poem you have to read through with the biggest "thank you" to Mom and my husband, John.… Continue reading A Poem: These Gifts Given in Times of Black Ice
Candy Cane: A Corrie Poem
Corrie sang last year in her preschool's Christmas concert, and of course puts her hands in her sleeves. Corrie om Christmas Day last year sitting on her new Frozen bike in the box. The last picture ever both of my children with Santa Claus. Corrie with all the coloring and Frozen book collection on the… Continue reading Candy Cane: A Corrie Poem
Coffee and Cake (A Corrie Poem)
I dream of the airplane with blue wings, Corrie's cake, and coffee with cream.
The Best Reason Why: John, His Service, and His Poem
Some loves experience more pies in the face than ballets and dreams sold to strangers on a holiday channel.
Happy Birthday Corrie
Today is Corrie's sixth birthday, and her first in heaven.
Four Points: Speaking with a Child about the Unimaginable
I saw the tears in Daddy's eyes, and Hayes hugged his Papa. For my father to acknowledge Hayes's losses was a powerful moment for both of them. Another adult, besides his parents, verbally spoke with him about his losses.
The Three Cs in Growth through Grief
Friends on social media share the happy pictures of their children all of the time. Now, I can either drink two bottles of wine and feel the full weight of envy, or I can celebrate the life of my daughter by making somber places beautiful. I can make them look like the joy and happiness Corrie brought to my life.
Fill Up the Empty Chair for Thanksgiving
Some say empty chairs remain empty all around tables in remodeled kitchens with the island where someone's son ate breakfast. A bar stool sits empty. I arranged flowers this morning for Corrie's room, her spot at the table, and a centerpiece. "Remember me" is a common thought of some who read Bibles and then wonder… Continue reading Fill Up the Empty Chair for Thanksgiving
Stepping on the Jelly Fish
In the book, Healing A Parent's Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas by Alan Wolfelt wrote: "In the United States alone, more than 100,000 children die each year."
Corrie's Season 