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”
Tag Archives: loss
Fashionably Late
By Sherrie Cassel Racing against the clock; it’s 11:28 p.m. I know, with eight billion people in the world, there are bound to be a few wistful, woeful, and wonderful missives saying goodbye to 2025, and so, here’s mine. I can describe my year as wonky and wonderful. I finally, after what has seemed likeContinue reading “Fashionably Late”
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!”
Emily Dickinson
by Sherrie Cassel The psychedelic lights undulate on my office ceiling. Springsteen is lightly playing his harmonica, and I am grateful…a sixty-three-year-old hippie wannabe. I wasn’t old enough to be truly aware of the bombs bursting in midair. What does it mean to “lose someone in the war” when you’re only five years old? I’veContinue reading “Emily Dickinson”
A time to mourn and a time to dance …
By Sherrie Cassel I’ve wanted to know what’s on the bottom of the ocean floor for most of my life, you know, to plumb the depths of the unknown, like Jacques Costeau. Every single day I rise from our bed, wipe the sleep from my eyes, stretch, and greet the day, is another opportunity toContinue reading “A time to mourn and a time to dance …”
Lazarus and Reality
By Sherrie Cassel I’m in MX for a week and some change visiting my younger brother and his senior dog. He won’t let me lift a finger, so it truly is a vacation of being pampered. It’s nice. I don’t interview for the doctoral program until next month, so I’m reading everything I can getContinue reading “Lazarus and Reality”
Whatever Gets You through the Night
By Sherrie Cassel Joshua Tree, California I’m making corrections for the revision of my book. It’s a mess, reflective of where my head and heart were at the first writing – lots of typos, blank pages, alignment issues, over-exposure. I just wanted it out there in the world. Initially and in retrospect, I needed toContinue reading “Whatever Gets You through the Night”
Song Choice
By Sherrie Cassel There is a bird, brightly colored; it always has a lilt in her chirp, which I interpret from my hedonistic brain as a sense of joy. The lacrimose mountain tanager’s name means sorrowful or tearful, despite her happy tune. The theory of how she got her name, it is suggested, may beContinue reading “Song Choice”
Hungover
By Sherrie Cassel I feel like I’ve been in a car accident and the next day being black and blue, but … still alive on a brand new day – granted, without my son, but a brand new day regardless of the part of me that is irrational wishing for my son to be resurrected,Continue reading “Hungover”
Rationalizing until the Cows Come Home
By Sherrie Cassel Dedicated to the Esperon Family The world would be silent, but “American Pie” is playing on my phone and I’m grateful for the noise. I’m listening as Don McLean sings about the spirit of my generation. I think about how Lennon read a book on Marx and how when someone is inContinue reading “Rationalizing until the Cows Come Home”
Grief to Gratitude 