Category: Family
-
Migraines – What a Pain! #MondayBlogs
So, it is May – Mental Health Awareness Month, and I’m not motivated to write about mental health. Not mine, at least. Instead, I find myself drawn to write about parenting a son who has suffered severe migraines since he was a toddler. My son’s earliest migraines involved gastrointestinal symptoms, but no headaches. When he was…
-
My Kid Gets Migraines
My son has suffered migraines since he was at least two years old. I would regularly get phone calls from daycare to pick him up because he was sick again. We did not know what was happening. We thought that he was getting gastroenteritis, aka “the stomach flu.” Then my sister observed that when we celebrated holidays with…
-
Fear of Loss
Thursday night I saw my psychologist over the disaster that was Tuesday. First I had her listen to the distraught voice recording I made that night. I told her about my son’s recurring gastroenteritis. He’s suffered from migraines with vomiting since he was a toddler, has gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and gets gastroenteritis regularly during the…
-
Death, Grief & the Beast
NAMI Orange County volunteer Melissa Nemeth passed on as did my brother-in-law Don. Grief that I denied myself now hits me. Now I realize how much compassion I withheld from my husband as I defended myself from pain and from being needed. My prayers go out to Melissa’s family and to my in-laws. The tears flow…
-
Bad Mom – Spoken Word for Tha.Speakeasy
Prompted by an invite to Tha.Speakeasy Facebook event on April 17th & 18th, I read my poem, Bad Mom, which I’m posting here. Bad Mom Bad mom Selfish mom Ineffective mom Permissive mom Bipolar mom At times, abusive mom At times, out of control mom At times, rageful mom She’s even hit her kid She’s even…
-
Been Busy
No wonder I’m exhausted! Friday I attended a NAMI California Regional Meeting in which we participated in NAMI Smarts for Advocacy Training. NAMI Smarts for Advocacy is a hands-on advocacy training program that helps people living with mental illness, friends and family transform their passion and lived experience into skillful grassroots advocacy. Basically, we learned how…
-
Two Losses in Three Parts #Writing101
As I thought about today’s writing prompt to write about a loss, I kept circling back to two losses – the loss of my maternal grandfather and the loss of my expectations and plans for my future. Now, a third pops into my mind – my husband’s loss of his brother. Somehow I will be…
-
Two, No Three, Songs #Writing101
Today’s prompt was to think of three songs then free write about them. I came up with two. Two perfect songs. Both beautiful. Both worthy of life. Both true. Duke Ellington I love. I’ve been a fan of his for decades. Perhaps since I was a young girl as my father loved straight-ahead jazz and…