Memorials. Resting places. Bodies. Ashes. What do we do? Where do we do it? How often do we visit? The “what to do” question was never a question for us; Coop left a handwritten note on top of his Bible in his bedroom, letting us know there should be enough money in his account toContinue reading “On Resting Places”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
On Dessert Tables and Scars
When I was younger, the walnut drop-leaf table, better known as the dessert table, was stretched to capacity and turned diagonally in the small kitchen; it was the Christmas Eve dessert table at my grandparents’ house. The rest of the year, leaves removed or dropped, the table was just there, snugged up against the peninsula’sContinue reading “On Dessert Tables and Scars”
On a Dutch Oven and Apex Predator
August 24, 2020 “Will you please just put this pan in the basement?” That was my request to my husband, and the pan in question was Cooper’s Griswold No. 9 cast iron Dutch oven. Hours earlier, our world—our family—had imploded. Days earlier, Coop had made supper in that pan, but he’d neglected to clean up.Continue reading “On a Dutch Oven and Apex Predator”
On Huggers and Hug-ees
This week I’ll finish my fourth school year After. Four full school years. This is the first year I didn’t take a “Cooper” day to recover from a surge of grief. I had hard days and I had sick days (covid and pneumonia will do that), but no “Cooper” days. These realities—both the fact thatContinue reading “On Huggers and Hug-ees”
On Coffee Club and Fixing It Yourself
“Life is short. Fix it yourself.” That’s the sentiment on the front of my most comfortable T-shirt. I love that shirt. It’s well-made, fits just right, goes perfectly with jeans—all the important T-shirt qualities. But those words . . . I sort of want to amend that saying. I can’t fix life myself. I canContinue reading “On Coffee Club and Fixing It Yourself”
On Paint Splatters, Sawdust, and Weird Love
A year ago, the scene shop was pristine. Now, it has paint splatters on the floor, closets full of supplies and equipment, and sawdust in the cracks. And you know what? I love that space more now than I did when it was perfectly clean and hardly used. Somehow, the shop is more real now.Continue reading “On Paint Splatters, Sawdust, and Weird Love”
On The Wild Child Welcoming Committee
Tonight, my heart breaks not for myself, but for a family I’ve known and loved for decades. Tonight, I usher in new members to this hideous club—Moms and Dads Who Know. It’s still so easy, more than three years later, to remember the earliest days of grief—the days of sorrow’s exhaustion and confusion and physicalContinue reading “On The Wild Child Welcoming Committee”
On Flipping Off the Pit
The auditorium went silent, holding its breath. I spoke, and at the mention of our (Cooper’s) experience with the mental health system, the room went silent. From my place in the audience, I answered the “what needs to change” question about the mental health system. I shared the short version of what happened in JuneContinue reading “On Flipping Off the Pit”
On Itty Bitty Things
As our most recent Compassionate Friends meeting ended and The Friends began to leave, one mom reached toward me with her closed fist extended toward my hand. At first, I thought she was coming in for a hug, but it had been an emotional meeting—holidays are R.O.U.G.H. when you’ve outlived your kid—so a hug seemedContinue reading “On Itty Bitty Things”
On the Melancholy of Waking
I dreamt of Cooper last night and all day I carried with me the melancholy of waking. The dream was confusing—I still can’t make sense of it. I’d gone to the office at school to pick up something I’d printed. From a distance, I saw a shock of burnt sienna waves curling around a grungyContinue reading “On the Melancholy of Waking”
Woods Writes 