loss Tag

Dear Club Member, I’ve been where you are before, but you’re there now and that’s what matters.  We are members of a club that does not discriminate, but no one wants to be included.  I remember telling you I was part of this club only to have you look at me with compassion and forgiving eyes, but telling you I hope you don’t have to join for a million lifetimes.  But you’re here, with me by your side, wishing we were anywhere but here. We stand side-by-side because one parentRead More

I never know when the outburst will occur. When tears will start rushing down my face without any barriers to block them from my lips. The saltiness of my tears tantalizes my tongue and I am brought back to the moments I want to forget. This is what grief feels like: for a death, a loss, or a departure of some sort that was not warranted or desired. Good-byes were always a wretched sound to me, even if their time was now and I should have met them yesterday. IRead More

I never thought I would be exchanging battle stories with my dad when it comes to the War of Love. He’s probably thinking the exact same thing. Not that it’s brag worthy, but my dad was going out on more dates than me at one point. We never expected to be in this situation, but after losing my mom to cancer over two years ago, we find dating to be a normal topic of discussion now. Sometimes it’s hilarious and other times it’s just weird. For better or for worse,Read More

Dear Mommy,   I’m sorry I don’t write more often, but it’s difficult to put a pen to paper or tap the keys on my laptop at times when I think of you. It’s almost Christmas and that was always your favorite holiday. You decorated the house the day after Halloween before disregarding Thanksgiving went mainstream. You were always ahead of the trends. This will be the third Christmas without you, but the first one that I’ll say out loud, “Mommy’s not coming back.”   I thought about you today.Read More

The holiday season is here, and, for many of us, that means going home to the places and the people that have been watching us grow up. Returning home means running into everyone I never wanted to see again at one of the five bars in my hometown and having to relearn how to drive a car after months of walking and taking the subway. It means getting to eat my mom’s bombass breakfasts and snuggle with my cat whenever he lets me. It means spending every second with myRead More

What is to be said about a man so heavily spoken for? Whether his family, friends or famous reputation; anywhere you go the mention of George Boisson, also known as King, leads to conversations and stories of an impressive legacy. It was the kind of impressive legacy that leads one to believe that perhaps King was not just a nickname but some form of actual royalty. What can be said about a man so widely respected? The greatest people are always the hardest to honor. Not much can be saidRead More

I write. I give speeches. I have no fear in speaking in public, and that it because of one speech that I had to deliver at the worst time of my life. Let me explain: When I graduated from high school in 2009, my mother asked me to join a Toastmasters club with her. Toastmasters is a club for people who want to learn and improve on leadership and public speaking skills. I was 18, barely eligible to join, and learned quite a bit while there. Also that year, myRead More

It’s our anniversary but I’m experiencing it without you. August 18th marks the day we parted ways; you for a destination that people consider to be a “better place,” and me to a place that I have not found yet. I hope your taste buds are delighting in a huge bowl of ice cream right now because that was our sacred ritual. Honestly, ice cream makes everything better; if only we could be savoring each bite with one another the way we used to do. Our separation was one ofRead More

I’ve always found the concept of breaking up with someone both unsettling and sad. Whenever I hear of a friend or family member’s relationship coming to an end, I feel somewhat disappointed that another love has failed yet again. Coming from a family where my parents met and fell in love at 15, I grew up believing in the whole “fairy-tale” ending phenomenon. I just didn’t understand how if two people loved each other so much they could even fathom ending things. I think this is part of the reasonRead More

World renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow once ordered all our needs into a rigid pyramid of importance. As Maslow argued, at the base of all our needs is what keeps us physically alive as human beings. As the pyramid narrows toward the top, meeting physiological needs transitions toward meeting more internal, emotional needs. He deemed this to be what founds a “stable” individual. However, is it true in every moment that we put our physical “needs” before what we mentally desire? Can Maslow’s rigidity ever flex? I don’t want to believeRead More

To say my life has been less than perfect would be an understatement. I went to college just like most kids. Right out of high school. I went to the local university, but didn’t do a lot of studying. I really didn’t care at that point. I was more concerned with drinking, girls, and having a good time. My family would ask how I was doing. How I was enjoying school. How I liked my teachers. I conjured up a web of little white lies and deceits. I thought theyRead More