Letting Others In
I love to read. I thank my dear mother, who passed away in 2008, for instilling that adoration in me. She would go to the library and check out at…
Honoring a Loved One During COVID-19
My mother-in-law, Martha Schardein, passed away on November 24th of this year after a long battle with cancer. Thankfully, she did not experience a lot of pain in the final…
Calm Down, Move On, Get Over It?
Unexpectedly losing a loved one is hard to understand if you haven’t been through it yourself. It’s hard to describe but I’ll try using a scene from Jaws. I was…
Suicide in Teens and Children
Loss by Suicide in Teens and Children has been heavy on my heart recently as I have seen some close friends suffering these losses. I have been asking myself many…
Dating After Death: Part One
After years of suffering my spouse, my partner, my love finally died. My heart was shattered. I hardly knew where to look to start picking up the broken parts. I…
Post-Traumatic Growth
“Trauma doesn’t have to defeat you. It can be a perfect opportunity for growth. Don’t just make a comeback. Use it as a catalyst forward.” ~ Matt McWilliams A friend…
Honor Your Loved One During COVID-19
Burying a loved one is hard enough and now we cannot celebrate their life with family and friends? I remember the day that my son, Ben, passed away. We had…
Grieving Uncertainty
I’m not sure what I’m feeling. It’s very much like grief and has taken me back to the months that followed after my son, Ben Koier, passed away. It’s this…
GUILT
“We love our children above all else and we never do anything to intentionally harm them.” (Revised words of wisdom from my mom that if she had been living she would have…
The Wonderful Bundle
They found me. I was hiding from all of the Thanksgiving merriment in the basement, napping on the couch in a dimly lit room. My daughter and her husband came…