The anniversaries of my sister’s (8/9/17) and father’s (2/6/04) deaths are the two most impactful days of my life. It’s customary to check in with someone when it comes to celebratory remembrances (Birthdays! Holidays! Hooray to happy times!) but not so much on less festive occasions. A lot of folks...

Grief is complicated and difficult. To be a family member or friend of someone who lost their life by suicide adds an additional level of complexity. Much of this is due to the stigma of suicide. I dedicate this post to those trying to survive after a loss by suicide...

The miscommunication of grief is kind of like this hug between my nephew and my daughter. Good, heartfelt intentions, but an uncomfortable and painful experience.    What you say and mean is not always what I hear:   But even if I don't hear your intentions, thank you for trying. It...

 Updated: May 2, 2019 ~ Recommendations can be found halfway down the page. When you are recently diagnosed or bereaved, people are frantic to help you solve your problem. This is well-intentioned but can often be annoying. Especially when advice comes from the 'Solutions People.' When my mother-in-law’s breast cancer...

  Earlier this summer I posted on Instagram  that it was my dad’s birthday. I honestly haven’t been thinking a lot about my dad - my head and heart are too wrapped up in the loss of my sister. Right now, I’m not a great model for managing multiple losses, as...

I constantly think about what was happening at this time last year.  There are big moments - like in November I remembered that at that time the year before my sister finished her chemo. Christmas was the anniversary of her hair starting to grow in and she stopped covering her...

This is angrief - the unique version of anger that you find in the depths of your grief. I am really angry that my sister died, and sometimes I wish I could shout a big F*CK YOU to the people who piss me off. It would actually be less of a...

I posted this series on instagram the other day, but wanted to share it here too. Grief is exhausting, and part of it is due to the enormous amount of mental space that your loss occupies. Almost everything I do can be connected to my sister. Here are ten examples of...

This first appeared in Modern Loss. Reprinted here with permission.  This is my sister — her name is Alison. As I am writing this, it’s been about 10 months since my sister’s unexpected death. A short enough time that I can think back to a year ago today when life was...