Stories and Cupcakes
I have a folder on my computer called, “Tools Laurie Uses.” My friend was a tech geek to say the least. She earned a Ph.D. in Information and Computer Science from Georgia Tech in 1987. Her dissertation was on fractals, for heaven’s sake. She was a pioneer for women...
Getting to Amen
I have a confession. I’m a life-long Presbyterian who went to Catholic school (that’s not the confession but probably enough to make one crazy right there.) I am currently an elder in my church which would make my grandparents bust with pride. My grandfather was a...
Untouched
There is so little that is untouched, five years later; not much is as he left it. His studio has new occupants. The photography equipment - other than his camera that is now mine - has been sold. It has taken me all this time to finally find the will to begin...
Missing
This is the overwhelming thought that I have these days: “You are missing so much.” Life events, big and small still occur. A problem with which we had long struggled is slowly beginning to resolve. Decisions are made. The lives of our children are...
A Proper Cup of Tea
I am tired to the bone, more teary now than I was at my mother-in-law, Peggy’s, memorial service and I smell like other people’s perfume from all the hugs. (That’s a good thing.) My stoic Scottish side automatically comes out at...
What Is On Your Wholehearted Playlist?
We have been talking about making meaning from our losses and learning to live wholeheartedly again in The Creative Grief Studio course for which I am a teaching assistant. Grief alters who we knew ourselves to be and a new self begins to emerge as we carry the...
Welcome to the New Artful Living After Loss
I am so pleased to announce the re-launch of my website. It has been quite an effort over the last month to get to this point but such a joy to channel my creative efforts in this way. And now it is finally ready for the big reveal! An unexpected technical...
All the Heart Can Hold
Some thoughts on love and a little Valentine’s day heARTwork. Can you love more than one person at a time? Of course, you can. How do you hold the love for those who are not with you in this life? Do you speak their name? Share memories and stories of their...
Moving Forward
My husband died on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 2010. Years like this I live through the day twice, once on the eighteenth and again on MLK day. This year was the fifth anniversary of his death. I wanted to write about it - to process all that I was feeling - for a...
Vocation: A Long Journey Through Alien Lands
The Executive Director of Soaring Spirits International, Michele, posted three group photos of Camp Widow recently. She unknowingly illustrated an evolution of one of the widows in the room…me. In the first shot, I’m way in the back. I know I’m there but I’m hidden,...
