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By Sherrie Ann Cassel   When I was a little girl, I had frequent ear infections. My parent’s socioeconomic status didn’t afford them the luxury of an education. But they had folk wisdom that comforted me or kept me in line when I was a kid. I still infuse my writing with the imagery ofContinue reading “Tidings of Cannabis and Joy”

By Sherrie Ann Cassel   One never knows what will be the trigger that takes one out of months of optimal functioning to spend a few hours in angst and longing. Holidays are tough for a lot of people. The first few for me were very tough. I have my grandson every Christmas break, soContinue reading “Bittersweet Triggers”

    By Sherrie Ann Cassel   Any day in life is filled with all sorts of experiences, for example, tense exchanges with shitty bosses, good camaraderie with great colleagues, laughter, tears, ad infinitum. When you’ve lost a loved one, someone with whom you shared a time in a relationship of some significance and intensity,Continue reading “Working toward Tiny Meltdowns”

https://centering.org/grief-digest-articles/coping-through-christmas/

By Sherrie Ann Cassel Photo by J. Galione   The lights are twinkling on our Christmas tree – and I am thinking about him. I am thinking about him as an infant, him as a toddler, about him as an adolescent, a teenager, a man, a father – my son. There is a tolerable wistfulnessContinue reading “Sunrise”

By Sherrie Ann Cassel Grief changes a person; it has changed me in magnificent ways, with an awakening of how much I am capable of great big giant accomplishments. On the other hand, grief has rocked me to my very core, and along the way some things are still recovering from the devastation of losingContinue reading “On leave”

By Sherrie Ann Cassel   The weather is going to have us snowed in for the Thanksgiving Day. We were disappointed at first, but now, we’re planning a fun time with just the two of us and our cats (who will also get down on some tryptophan). We always have a contingency plan; life oftentimesContinue reading “Grief with Wings”

By Sherrie Ann Cassel For our tightly wound string of tangled lights Here we go again. This is the fourth Christmas without my son. Our grandson will grace us with his company this year in our wintry desert home. We’re expecting snow (in southern California) over the next couple of days. The snow doesn’t lastContinue reading “Dumpster Diving for Memories”

By Sherrie Ann Cassel I’m an over-preparer. I pack for every contingency. I’m practical that way. So, when my son died, I approached grief the way I approach everything – very pragmatically. I wanted so much to outrun grief and get to the finish line where life was magnificent again, as quickly as humanly possible.Continue reading “Rubies in the Rubble”