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loss

Losing a child and wondering if you will you ever be okay again

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I was in no hurry to let go of my grief. It was what I had left of my daughter. By Mary Janevic

July 22, 2021 Parenting Challenges

Mourning the loss of my old phone number

yellow wall mounted rotary phone
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When I forgot my homework or my pants ripped at recess I dialed on auto-pilot. By Jonathan Meyer

July 8, 2021 Parenting Challenges

Finding a way to keep my mother’s memory alive in my garden

branches of a white dogwood tree against the sky
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In death as in life, she would be surrounded by nature’s bounty. By Megan Hanlon

May 17, 2021 Parenting Challenges

What it means to be a food allergy mom

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What if you are the best mother you can be and it’s still not enough to save your child? What if one mistake is the fatal bite? By Lauren Weiss

July 23, 2020 Parenting Challenges

I lost my mother. This is how I know when she’s with me.

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It has to be a single leaf, floating through the sky by itself. Do you have a mom sign? By Kandace Chapple

April 27, 2020 Parenting Challenges

When lost loved ones are still with us at the holidays

red berries in focus on a winter branch
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We pull ornaments from boxes labeled in my mother’s loopy cursive, giving our tree the same homespun look hers always had. By Mary Janevic

December 19, 2019 Parenting Challenges

Learning to make my mother’s holiday cookies again

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I ignored her recipe for many years as a way to avoid the loss. By Marcia Kester Doyle

December 12, 2019 Parenting Challenges

Helping my son grieve the loss of a friend

Blue dragonfly on a green leaf
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How exactly could I break this news to a kid who already went to bed every night scared of death to the point of tears? By Tanya Mozias Slavin

October 10, 2019 Parenting Challenges

First day of school, first miscarriage

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Hearing “nonviable” is heartbreaking. Having to ignore that in front of 32 smiling second graders is even harder. By Caitlin Cherry

September 10, 2019 Parenting Challenges

What my frozen embryos mean to me

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They are part of my life’s topography. Tiny specks on my map of choices, loves and losses, hurts and heartbreak. By Jordan Namerow

July 31, 2019 Family, Parenting Challenges

How to find resilience after losing your mom

Close up of a white weathered weather vane with an arrow on top with blue sky and clouds in the background
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Losing my mother, especially at a young age, was like losing my compass. By Gina Luongo

July 23, 2019 Parenting Challenges

The day I helped my mother pick out a wig

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My mom took off her scarf and revealed her bald head. We all braced ourselves, but the woman at the shop didn’t flinch. By Kandace Chapple

July 16, 2019 Parenting Challenges

How to live happily when there are no happy endings

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On carrying grief forward, not getting over it. A Motherwell interview with Nora McInerny.

July 2, 2019 Books

Motherwell talks to bestselling author and therapist Lori Gottlieb

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So much of who we are has to do with how we think about our own parents and our own childhood.

June 19, 2019 Books, Culture

Seeing my complete family in the night sky

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Next to Orion’s Belt are two dimmer stars. These are the babies I lost, one before each of my sons. By Julia Pelly

March 28, 2019 Parenting Challenges

On Prince, David Bowie, and losing Baby A

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Our daughter asked good questions—what about the other baby? Were we sad? Why did it happen? By Cynthia Nuara

February 27, 2019 Family, Parenting Challenges

On the anniversary of my friend’s son’s death

Close up on shiny black stones with a green leafy sprout coming from the ground beneath
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I sent you a bowl of black stones because of the hardness of loving a child for exactly who he is. By Brianne DeRosa

January 24, 2019 Parenting Challenges

I had a miscarriage. This is my story.

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If my belly was round and full of baby, would I hate my body less? This body that betrayed me. By Brittany Wren

December 3, 2018 Parenting Challenges

Can my 70-year-old mother find love after loss?

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It had been a long time since I’d heard her laugh. It felt like clouds parting. By Stewart Lewis

November 15, 2018 Parenting Challenges

Before and after my mother’s accident

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Time heals so much of what goes wrong in life, but the memory of what happened to Mum on that day still makes my body react. By Clover Stroud

November 12, 2018 Books

The little moments when we are hit by grief

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You will be in your slippers, making waffles, and suddenly remember that your mother is dead. By Brianne DeRosa

October 17, 2018 Parenting Challenges

Helping my mother clean out her closet, the year before she died

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After we gave it all to Goodwill, I lived in fear every day that I would see somebody else wearing my mom’s clothes. By Kandace Chapple

October 9, 2018 Parenting Challenges

How to explain blame and divorce to my son

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“Momma was crying last night,” my seven-year-old said. “She was crying because you left our family.” By Erik Raschke

May 30, 2018 Parenting Challenges

After divorce, when a fish is not just a fish

single goldfish in glass bowl in front of ominous purple background
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Perhaps the fish were feeble replacements for all that we had lost, but they were also hopeful things. By Samantha Shanley

March 29, 2018 Parenting Challenges

My war against squirrels, bullets and grief

white flower petals and weathered wood
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Fourteen teenagers and three teachers are dead who were not dead a few of weeks ago, and my house is falling apart, and my children are at school. By Brianne DeRosa

March 6, 2018 Culture

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