Tag: #sol2024

  • Epilogue: Good Grief

    Easter! What a fitting day to end this SOL challenge and this month long story! There could be Easter sermons written about Charlie Brown’s two word catch phrase. Charles Schultz himself added a good deal of sermon moments into his long running comic strip. I have adopted his motto as I wrote and processed and…

  • Chapter 23: Honors and Ashes

    The week before Jeanette passed away, she won an award for her leadership at Penn State. While in some ways it felt like a token or a lifetime achievement award, it also made all of us very proud, especially her parents who were with us and listened in to the ceremony. Jeanette also had many…

  • Chapter 22: Grief is Like…

    Now that this experiment of documenting our story is nearing the end, it seems like I still have a hard time describing what I am feeling. Somehow I thought it would be easier, like a faucet that starts until it is overflowing the container. Maybe grief is like that – we hold it all inside…

  • Chapter 21: Ya Gotta Have Faith

    Ya gotta have faith on opening day when the world is all possibility and fun Ya gotta have faith at halftime that a comeback or upset is a shot away Ya gotta have faith at the doctor’s office that healthcare and experts have cured before Ya gotta have faith at the bedside as you pray…

  • Chapter 20: Emotional Baggage

    “How are you doing? How are you feeling? Emotionally?” a friend asked me tonight at trivia. I know that this friend knows exactly how loaded the question is because he lost his wife this past year as well. He really cared for the answer to, but I wasn’t immediately sure what to answer, and then…

  • Chapter 19: Financial Advice

    If Jeanette were reading this and got to this chapter title, I’m very sure she would audibly laugh out loud! Mainly because, of my few talents and strengths, money management was not at the top of the list. Thankfully, she held my complimentary skill set- she was able to invest, save, budget, and spend with…

  • Chapter 18: Celebration of Life

    Six months ago. Pause to remember A Celebration of Life in more ways than one. Here are some of those mini-slices: I’m just so grateful for family during this time between her death and the service. They were present and available, but not smothering or trouble. They stayed reserved but helped with decisions when asked.…

  • Chapter 17: Social Reintegration

    This isn’t news to anyone, but when you are a couple, you tend to socialize with other couples. When you are married with kids, fellow parents often bond together over their familiar woes and joys. When you have a wife who is going through cancer, you defer to her for social preferences and schedules. And…

  • Chapter 16: By and By

    By and by I’m getting by Times are tough but so am I by and by Last night I was blessed with a surprise of the best kind; namely, my best friend driving 5 hours to show up in my driveway and spend the weekend with me! Just to chat, watch hoops, and catch up…

  • Interlude III cont: final four furry friends

    Yesterday I referred to my first attended funeral and my eight great grandparents. Today, it is worth mentioning my first real experience losing loved ones up close, which would be the dearly departed pets in my life. As with other parts of death and grief, this is likely a common bond that many of us…