Inspirational Stories

“Mom, you woke me up when you hugged me last night,” stated my 6 year-old son at breakfast, as I was retelling a vivid dream I’d had the night before. Due to the shocking nature of his comment, I responded, “Wow, we were both hugging Dad last night!” My late husband had been in the hospital in a coma the previous 7 days. When we arrived home we brought with us a house full of people. Therefore, our usual calm home environment was now chaotic, filled with grieving relatives a

Have you ever found yourself feeling “out of sorts”? Not understanding why you’re unmotivated to do much of anything? Not necessarily feeling “down”, yet not taking care of yourself the way you normally do? Well, after having had a very difficult week… not understanding why I lacked motivation to work on my business, exercise on a daily basis, and eat in a healthy way, I was given insight in a most interesting way. This morning, while enjoying my usual morning routine of ta

The first time I smelled the scent of buttered toast was while I was talking with Life Source, a Procurement organization who would...

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why is this happening to me?” It’s a common question we ask ourselves when we encounter a challenging or traumatic situation in our lives. Unfortunately, the feelings and emotions involved in the answer to this question often lead us into a downward spiral of fear, worry, anger, sleepless nights, and even depression. With all the talk about the effects of stress on our bodies and our general well-being, this downward spiral can cause our live

Just like you, my life has been filled with people, situations, and events that have shaped me into the complex individual I am today. This blog will tell stories of my life with my late husband, Jim, and our life together. I feel it’s important for you to understand some of the major events that took place before I became a widow. Jim and I met, the very first time, in college. It wasn’t until two years into our relationship that we discovered we had mutual friends. F

The “Snowstorm and Blizzard of 2007” was what the National Weather Service labeled it. Little did I know what tragic events would take place on that day. Nothing was usual about that day… thoughts of a possible “snow day” was the theme of the morning, as my family and I prepared to leave for school. Due to the pending snowstorm, I agreed to “ride share” with a friend. Usually I drove alone so I could stay late at work, if I needed to prepare for the following day. As

(The above technical terminology means a spontaneous brain bleed) Imagine meeting your husband’s neurosurgeon in the hospital’s waiting room, the morning after he was admitted for emergency brain surgery. Then, hearing the news that his prognosis is “not good”. “We were able to remove the hematoma when he was first admitted, but we weren’t able to stop the bleeding. He no longer has a gag reflex and the bleeding in his brain has continued since last night’s surgery. I’m s

Jim was admitted to the trauma hospital, 80 miles from our home, on the evening of March 1. A blinding snowstorm was blanketing the roadways with several feet of snow and had paralyzed travel for hundreds of miles. For the first four days, none of our family members were able to get to the hospital. This gave my boys and me time to grieve without anyone else around. I felt this time together, as a family, was a blessing from above. Blessings Embraced: Time with loved on

Four days after my husband was admitted to the hospital, all of our family members were finally able to join us to say their final goodbyes. He had been admitted during a massive snowstorm that paralyzed travel for hundreds of miles and many days. I’d held off the decision to donate Jim’s organs until I was able to confer with everyone, asking them what they felt about organ procurement. I knew in my heart it was important for all of Jim’s loved ones to share their though

On March 7, 2007, my father’s 80th birthday, we removed Jim, my late husband, from life-support. His internal defibrillator and pacemaker were the last medical devices disconnected from his soon-to-be life giving body, before the procurement organization could harvest his organs. Jim had been in the hospital since March 1, and the decision to work with Life Source, the organ procurement organization, was made on March 5. Once the decision was made, I was told it was time

Through the help of a caring nurse providing me with local hotel information, I’d reserved a room at a hotel with a waterpark. I knew my children would need to be children and not have to sit around a hospital waiting room for days at a time. However, I needed someone to watch my youngest son while I spent as much time with my love as possible, knowing he might not survive. Luckily, some of my close friends lived nearby, so I called upon them for support. Three beautiful s

On day four, the relatives started arriving to share their thoughts and words of love with Jim. One of Jim’s siblings had two young children. Tim, their father was a very close friend of Jim’s… they had grown-up together and shared common interests. He’d been considered one of the family since he started dating Jim’s sister. This blessed soul was another person who provided care for all of the children involved in this heart-breaking situation. At the time, with all of

Jim’s sudden and tragic death turned my life upside down. My former life, as I knew it, had come to an end. I felt numb as I walked through the front door of our home. It seemed as if the past seven days had been a horrible dream. I wanted so desperately to feel normal again… but that wasn’t going to happen for many, many, many years. Much to my surprise, upon returning home, my huge deck was cleared of snow! When I saw it I almost cried. Periodically, while at the hos

The last thing on my mind, upon returning home, was probably the most important detail for everyone involved with the logistics of caring for three young children, two teenagers, and twelve adults… food preparation. Food was the LAST thing on my mind, but the FIRST thing on the minds of our thoughtful, loving, and generous friends and neighbors. Behind the scenes, meals were organized and prepared for every lunch and dinner for a week. Like clockwork, there was a knock

Of course, the mood at Jim’s school during the ten days of Jim’s absence was somber. Teachers counseled Jim’s students to make sure they...

Jim’s visitation was planned for the evening of Sunday, March 11. As we prepared for the visitation, memories of Jim were arranged, lovingly, on the tables and walls of the funeral home. One of the first guests to arrive to greet the family was my youngest son’s kindergarten teacher. (I interviewed her for this story.) She recalls, “I remember carrying the stuffed bunny in and looking for your son. I had it behind my back and told him I had a special friend for him… one

Upon hearing of Jim’s tragic and sudden death, my work colleagues discussed how they could help our family. They coordinated with Jim’s school for meal delivery and sent flowers to the funeral home. It wasn’t until a week after the funeral, I learned about another extremely generous gift from my co-workers. Together, they donated 25 sick days for me to use at my discretion. The days were a life-saver for me, financially. Their unexpected donation of sick days enabled m

Hearing sounds coming from my archery range? Furniture moving around by itself? No, way… that’s pretty creepy! Three years after Jim died, I decided to create an additional income stream by remodeling half of my walkout basement into an apartment. The apartment provided me with extra income and a sense of security… knowing someone else was living in my house, and not just my two children and me. When Jim was alive he was an avid recurve archer. One of his dreams was t

Twelve years after saying my final goodbye to the love of my life, my heart decided it was time to face the pain, once again. This time I needed to lovingly release Jim in order to take ownership of my life’s direction and purpose. It started with the removal of his archery targets… the ones he’d made to practice shooting in our home. The archery range in our basement held his targets, bows, arrows, and hunting gear for twelve years. The range became a space for everythi