essays

by Judy
January 9, 2016

The beginning lines of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy read: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” I thought of this line recently when thinking about the grieving process and how very different it is for each person – each person grieves in his/her own way. If I were asked to give advice about grieving, how could I tell anyone else how it’s “done” except to say to allow oneself to grieve in their own way and let go of all the ideas and “shoulds” that may be there. It is such an individual matter...

immeasurable moments while lost at sea

by Andrea
December, 2015

For this essay I decided to do something different. Having allowed myself to lose some writing momentum, I found myself for weeks feeling lost as to what to write. Sometimes this happens. I sit and wait. Nothing comes. And so in an attempt to free myself of this spell, I tried something out of the box. Early this morning I sat quietly for hours, listening to the awakening silence and capturing words as they appeared on the horizon. Without judgment or direction, the following poem was born. Once complete, I touched...

a soft goodbye at bedside

by guest writer, Joan Berland
December 23, 2015

As part of our caregiver’s circle, a few participants have been drawn to write about their caregiving experience. This essay was written by participant, Joan Berland, who wrote about her 90 year old mother, Jean, last January. Joan is writing again now, from her mother's bedside as her mother is approaching her final hours under the care of hospice. This is a tender and...

notes for a eulogy

by guest writer, Joan Berland
December 23, 2015

As part of our caregiver’s circle, a few participants have been drawn to write about their caregiving experience. This essay was written by participant, Joan Berland, who wrote about her 90 year old mother, Jean, last January. Joan wrote this eulogy piece the day after her mother died. This is a tender and poignant, two-part essay. We are honored to share Joan's writing...

the closest link to mom

by Judy
December 20, 2015

Pat, who was my mother’s Aide for the last six years of her life and who has become like a sister to me is also the closest link to my mom. Because of that, when I am with Pat or talk with her, I feel so strongly my mom’s presence as does she. We both carry her in our consciousness.

One aspect of my mother that was particularly delightful was her sense of humor. She found humor in so many situations and would laugh with such abandonment that whether it was very funny or not…and usually it was very funny…you could not help but laugh with...

love spilling over

by Judy
December 6, 2015

Someone asked me the other day how taking care of my mom changed me. I told her I had never been a mother, but felt like in some ways I have had that experience. No matter where I was physically - near or far - I felt like my mother was always in my consciousness. There is an interesting balance when that happens, especially with someone who is very fragile and whose health can change at any moment. On one hand, I think there is always in the background of one’s consciousness a kind of tension, knowing how delicate and unpredictable life is and...

giving thanks

by Judy
November 22, 2015

It’s been five months since my mom died and Thanksgiving is approaching. Somehow every day feels like a day of gratitude; nonetheless, given that Thanksgiving is a special day of gratitude, I thought to give voice and words to what I have been given. There is so much that I am grateful for.

For one thing I am alive, relatively healthy and breathing free. That is no small matter and not to be taken for granted.

I have had this deep love and appreciation for my mom that still – even writing these words – brings tears to my eyes. I...

going home

by Judy
November 8, 2015

A week ago I came down to Florida to stay in my mother’s home where she died a little more than 4 months ago. Before coming down from up north I was surprised how much I was looking forward to being here. On an almost unexplainable level, I felt like I was going home. It felt a bit strange in the sense that my mom is no longer here and in that sense I was coming down to an “empty” home – empty of my mom’s flesh and blood and yet it’s the place she lived for over 40 years and where I lived for three straight years helping to...

being mindful of my aging mother's needs

by Andrea
November 1, 2015

“What are you working on these days? What is your practice?” These kinds of questions are not uncommon in our contemporary world of yoga, meditation and spiritual inquiry. There are all kinds of answers that one might hear in response. We might hear answers like:

Simplifying my life and getting rid of excess stuff
Working out 4 days/week
Practicing daily meditation
Turning off my electronic devices at 6pm each day

These are all really good answers and great...

to those who endure

by Judy
October 25, 2015

My first thought was, “OMG, how did that man survive?”

I had been reading about a deeply spiritual man called Hillel Zeitlin, a Jewish mystic, Yiddish and Hebrew writer, who attempted to ‘rejuvenate” Hasidism between the two world wars. He had a vision of a new Hasidic community that would be a crossroad between Hasidic mysticism and modernity. He lived from 1871-1942 mostly in Poland and died in the Warsaw ghetto. In the course of reading about him, I came upon the fact that his oldest son, Aaron...

Pages

More...

Search form

essays

Pages