Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Sherrie Cassel The new year is also a finale to whatever we leave behind of the year preceding it. I said goodbye to my mother, a relationship that spanned sixty-one years, my longest relationship to date, and what will prove to be the longest relationship in my life. I’m wrapping up the last twoContinue reading “Goodbyes and Glad Tidings”

By Sherrie Cassel Every beautiful thing reminds me of my son. Listening to Minnie Ripperton sing “Loving You” this morning was nearly more than I could manage at that precise moment. I wasn’t expecting the emotional overwhelm. The very first note of “Loving You” had me bowled over in physical pain, all the way toContinue reading “The Little Engine that Could — Revisited”

By Sherrie Cassel “Tonight I would be thankful, Lord, for any dream at all.” Mission in the Rain, Bob Hunter and Jerry Garcia There are symbols which are easily recognizable for what they represent.  A yellow submarine. Einstein’s crazy coif, and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, even though Bobby, Phil, Donna, Keith, Mickey, Bill,Continue reading “Grief and Addiction”

By Sherrie Cassel My mom, my sweet and complicated momma, has been gone for three months now; I’ve lived a lifetime in those months. I’ve begun an internship. I’ve learned new and harried traffic patterns and navigated them. I’ve managed to be in a beautiful relationship with a man for whom adoration is mutual. I’veContinue reading “Holiday Check-in”

By Sherrie Cassel How many of you have to rev up for social gatherings since your loved one died? I need a couple of days to prepare my soul for another holiday without my son, and now, without my mother. Grief touches every inch of our lives, of our past, present, and future. I triedContinue reading “Tangled Tinsel”

By Sherrie Cassel The sky is gray and it’s getting cold in the high desert, yes, even in a dry Southern California it gets cold. I had to learn how to dress in colder climates. My brother says that a sweater is merely a suggestion in San Diego. Alas, I miss my home county, notContinue reading “Fumbling toward Gratitude”

By Sherrie Cassel The longer I live with grief as my constant companion, the more I learn about how much grief touches all our lives, in one way, one shape, or one form or another. I’ve been grieving a lost childhood, the loss of a child, losses of friends, and distant family, celebrity deaths. IContinue reading “Healing through self-talk”

By Sherrie Cassel Making meaning is what humans do to imbue their lives with purpose, tranquility through and after crises, and how we make sense of what happens around us every minute of every day. I don’t dream often, but I’ve had dreams in which a person’s face is very detailed, and yet, I haveContinue reading “Salud!”

By Sherrie Cassel As the 8th year angelversary for Rikki approaches, I become more contemplative about life, before and after Rikki’s death. I think about the hopeless and tortured child who used substances until they killed him. I know why my son chose the path he did; he suffered a lot in his life. MyContinue reading “The Metamorphosis of Hope”