7 Years Without a Mom

She died when I was 25.

Barely able to support myself but trying so hard. Riddled with emotional turmoil from a childhood of ups and downs. Now, at 25, without a mother, I dropped deep into grief. I stayed there for a long time.

My mother was a complicated figure in my life. She was a source of many things. Both comfort and pain. And I the same for her, she once said. 

CAPTURE YOUR MEMORIES IN A JAR

 

One of the things that alarms most new widows is the fear of forgetting. Nearly all of us are afraid that those precious memories will slip away from us into the recesses of our brain, never to be retrieved again. While that’s rarely what happens, we are able to summon up those warm recollections when we want to, nevertheless, the anxiety about losing them only adds to our distress. It doesn’t have to be that way.

 

SONGS TO SOOTHE THE SAVAGE WIDOW

 

Music therapy has been around a long time as a healing modality. It sure can be a big help when we need some mood-altering, can’t it?  I’ve leaned on it a lot in the years since Pat has been gone. It even made an entrance in my head as my beloved husband lay in Critical Care during his last few days. Not in the way you might think,  not the soft music that hospice workers suggest.