A Letter of Encouragement to my Widbuds
May 5, 2024 2 CommentsAll photos my own and taken these past days in the Pyrenees Orientales, France. 9th August 2020 I could write tons of letters of encouragement to my Widbuds, or indeed Grieflings of any fragrance or flavour. Whether it’s about putting one foot in front of the other; trusting that one heartbeat or breath will follow […]
Read MoreNice enough. Just not “right”
May 5, 2024 No CommentsView of the Canigou from my parents’ house 3 August 2020 We have been on holiday now for a “fat” week. “We” is Megan, Ben, Medjool and me. A “fat” week is 10 days. The first 7 days were spent in the Camargue, a beautifully wild part of southern France, around the Rhône Delta, famous for […]
Read MoreLet Me See Where Mike Is At
May 5, 2024 1 Comment26 July 2020 On Friday, a couple of days ago, some dear friends, Trisha, Angus & Isobel from London, came to stay for the evening/night before heading into the Swiss Alps for some summer holiday mountain respite. Dear friends to me, to Mike, and to each of our kids, all of whom were born after […]
Read MoreGrief Maths
May 5, 2024 2 Comments20 July 2020 Main Image by Angela Franklin, “Grief Will Teach You Math, When You Subtract One” (2019) https://demifgallery.com/artworks/9478-angela-franklin-grief-will-teach-you-math-when-you-subtract-2019/ I am no mathematician. I was pretty weak at maths at school, and given the option of having 7 or 8 hours of maths a week vs 3 or 4 hours in my final two years, […]
Read MoreWrapping Loss in Love
May 5, 2024 3 CommentsPhoto by Kevin Fong 14 July 2020 I spend a lot of my time reading about death, dying, and grieving, participating in webinars and holding space sessions with grief experts, people who’ve developed wise perspective on what it is to love, to lose, and to continue living. Apart from two moments since Mike’s death, I […]
Read MorePost Mortem – a year on
May 5, 2024 1 CommentAll photos my own 6 July 2020 This past week we have been honouring and commemorating Julia. (And Mike. And Ed. And Don. Of course). Like we do every day. Of course. But particularly Julia this week. The first “deathiversary”. The first anniversary post mortem. I don’t really know why the one-year anniversary feels like […]
Read MoreRight Down to the Weather
May 5, 2024 3 CommentsMain Photo by Marc Wieland on Unsplash 28 June 2020 So there we have it.Here we are again.Time has rolled around. As it is wont to do.Dates might not have, but the sense, the weight of that Sunday night 52 weeks ago, most definitely has. A hot day in our part of the world with […]
Read MoreCommemorating Julia. Seriously? WTF?!?
May 5, 2024 1 Comment23 June 2020 I feel I honour Julia every day. In some way. Sometimes small ways. Sometimes big ways. What is honouring anyway? Remembering? Talking to her? Talking about her? Sitting quietly and remembering something specific? Nodding to her massive copper bowl of rose petals in the lounge? Forming a twisted, lop-sided smile at one […]
Read MoreIncongruities of a Summer’s Day
May 5, 2024 1 CommentPhoto of Montreux by Armand Khoury on Unsplash 22nd June 2020 Just like I always feel a twinge of glee on 21st December (we have reached the shortest and darkest 24-hour period in the Northern Hemisphere – phew and yippee!), I also feel a twinge of sadness on 21st June when we have reached the […]
Read MoreRewriting Friendship Contracts
May 5, 2024 2 Comments15 June 2020 Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash I had one of those rollicking walloping moments of insight a few days ago after what had been months of sporadic back and forth Whatsapping with a lovely friend, (let’s call her Catherine), who I met decades ago at university. We were really close in those […]
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