This was an email I received from a reader. I found it to be a beautiful tribute to her father, and know all too well the pain she is going through. I thought maybe, by sharing it here, some of you could help me find the right words to comfort her… even just a little. She told me she wrote this a few months ago, and still has his ashes.

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My dad died on the 24^th of April, 2009, and I have thought of letting go of his ashes many times in that time but either due to co-ordination of schedules with my mum and sister or my inability to let go, I am faced with possibly letting go today. It feels like my heart, amongst other organs, is being ripped apart.

Posted in acceptance, family, grief, Letters From Readers, Life, love 26 Comments »

“Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.” (John Lennon)

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Life is interesting, isn’t it? It always gets its way. I try to just go with it, be flexible and open minded about outcomes and possibilities. But Life somehow manages to surprise me anyway.

I had my view of flexible plans for the next few weeks… I wouldn’t pre-schedule posts, I would just write along the way and chronicle every little twist and turn of our adventure. Life, apparently, had something else in store.

Posted in about me, acceptance, grief, Life 15 Comments »

Because of all the unexpected deaths recently–Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays… and my next door neighbor–the past couple of weeks have left me thinking about the BIG questions:

Why are we here?

How do we make the most of our lives?

Am I doing the right things?

How much longer do I have with my loved ones?

Where do we go when we die?

Are these tiny pieces of bone (pictured above) all that remains of a life well lived?!

As I was pondering these questions, I looked back to my journal entries from March of last year, when my dad died. Shortly after finding out he had passed away, I wrote this entry:

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