Tag: grief

Breathe

Amye Archer

Breathe. The simple act of pulling the world in and swallowing. When I was a kid, I used to hold my breath underwater for 74 seconds. I remember that number clearly because it was the neighborhood record. It was a feat to balloon my chest and deprive my body of Read more

In a Laundry Room on Virgin Gorda

Jennifer M. Smith

I was on Virgin Gorda, ashore at 8:00 a.m. doing my last loads of laundry before the trip south. Out of the wash and into the dryers, I was waiting to start folding. In came the cleaning lady, an older black woman, local, probably in her late sixties. “Good morning,” Read more

Grief: Whose Business is it?

Elizabeth Regen

“So Your Mom Died 2 Years Ago? It’s Time To Move On.” In October of 1986, when I was 11 – my mother’s father died. My grandfather. I remember my mom telling me to wash my hair well because there would be many people at the Irish Catholic wake that Read more

Chocolate Melted Hearts

Jacqueline Cioffa

I’m a rainbow sprinkles twist kind of girl, or BlackBerry Ice Cream straight from the dairy farm. So when exactly, at what precise moment did I grow a gaping sinkhole right above my sweet and bitter chocolate heart? You can’t keep piling unicorns, puppy dogs, and positive affirmations atop the Read more

I Have Three Children

Kimberly Brown

The question I dread the most as a grieving mother is; “How many children do you have?” It’s not that I don’t know how to answer, it is all the questions that follow. I’m immediately forced to decide whether or not I want to reveal more intimate information than the Read more