Here we are again. It is that time of year again. You may find yourself more sensitive, irritable, less patient, and sad right now. The first few years after your loss, you expect to feel poorly on birthdays and holidays - mainly because others have warned you. You don't expect it to start weeks prior, though. So, if you are feeling out of sorts more than usual, take a deep breath to calm yourself and try to focus on a happy memory of a good time that you shared with your lo

I recently traveled to Seattle for a dear friend's memorial service. I hadn't been there to visit for just a few years. I moved away ten years ago. In the last five years or so, every NW visitor to Maui that we spent time with lamented the homeless problems in Seattle. I had hoped they were exaggerating but driving around the city of my childhood and a majority of my adult life - just broke my heart. Once determined to be America's  Most Livable City, now it's just tattered

The years have flown by. This week was the anniversary of my son's crossing Over the Rainbow Bridge. It was surprisingly painful. It has been many years since he crossed over and yet sometimes it feels like yesterday. There is a new song by Paula Fuga and Jack Johnson that they wrote about the death of their fathers. The sentiment is the same no matter who died. It has amazing slack key guitar played by Ben Harper. Listening to it brought me to my knees--I guess I needed to