By Sherrie Cassel I listen to Taylor Swift’s LIFE OF A SHOW GIRL at least three times per day; it speaks to me; it speaks to me about an innocence I was not fortunate to experience in my childhood. Sixty-four years later, it’s really okay now. I’ve learned to absorb all the amazing experiences inContinue reading “Tap Dancing through the Grief Process”
Tag Archives: Grief
Holding Space for Uncertainty: Hope
By Sherrie Cassel If I ask you Point blank, “Do you believe in an afterlife?”, please know that I am desperately searching for my son in the promised mansions, or in the swirling energy, his Holy Spirit dancing with mine? If I ask you if you believe in heaven, without hesitation, just know thatContinue reading “Holding Space for Uncertainty: Hope”
Momma said there’ll be days like this…
By Sherrie Cassel So, no news is good news, right? Well, maybe on some days. I haven’t written anything for this page for a spell. My absence has been both good and challenging. Life is to be lived fully when not in crisis, and I’ve been fortunate to have smooth sailing for a bit. OurContinue reading “Momma said there’ll be days like this…”
Portrait of an Old Woman as a Young Artist
By Sherrie Cassel “But I was so much older then; I’m younger than that now.” ~Bob Dylan~ In the phenomena of living things oxymorons are plentiful. The word oxymoron originated in Greece. The word means, basically, double-sided, two-edged, one side sharp, and the other side dull. Perhaps indicative of the ability to choose between twoContinue reading “Portrait of an Old Woman as a Young Artist”
One Tin Soldier
By Sherrie Cassel It’s so hard to not ruminate on the days leading up to Rikki’s death, when he was so sick and weak – and I was terrified. I try to not think about those things as the anniversary, the tenth, approaches. I just found myself doubled over in pain as a memory piercedContinue reading “One Tin Soldier”
As stone is to flint
By Sherrie Cassel As my older brother riffled through our dead mother’s belongings, I sat and waited for his assault on my mother’s last belongings to be over. Her calendar of her days, when each of her children visited or she spoke with us on the phone were priceless items I could not part withContinue reading “As stone is to flint”
On this First Day of the Year
By Sherrie Cassel On this first day of the year, I pledge to honor my emotions as they arise, the good, the bad, and the infantile. Hey, it happens. On this first day of the year, I pledge to be like Michael J. Fox and Stephen Hawking, who, despite their challenges, continue to inspire. OnContinue reading “On this First Day of the Year”
With no particular place to go
By Sherrie Cassel 3 a.m. musings – and I’m wide awake, ruminating on craziness, on the rollercoaster of a 63-year-old life. I’m pushing Medicare age, and, yes, I’m hoping that in the two years I have until I’m “there”, there will still be Medicare. We’ll see. Health insurance, Covered California, while not ideal, is alsoContinue reading “With no particular place to go”
Merry Misnomers
By Sherrie Cassel Thanksgiving has come and gone, and Christmas is on the horizon, speeding toward us, targeting our need to keep up with Jones’s conspicuous consumption. Christmas, in America, is an insane time anyhow, but now with the social pathology taking place in my country and other parts of the world, Christmas is aContinue reading “Merry Misnomers”
We each go grieving on and on, hurrah, hurrah!
By Sherrie Cassel Hokusai Katsushika (1760–1849) Cacti close shop for the winter. Cottontails hibernate. Coyotes come into neighborhoods because their prey has gone underground. Californians hustle and bustle all year round. Southern California has two seasons: perfect and a little less than perfect. I didn’t grow up with fiery hillsides of changing leaves or monthsContinue reading “We each go grieving on and on, hurrah, hurrah!”
Grief to Gratitude 