24 thoughts on “The Year of Ups and Downs (2014)”

  1. We take what life brings us – sometimes we have options and other times, we don’t. I cannot begin to understand losing a child. I’ve been following your journey since blogging 201 in July 2015 and it seems like you are working through it. My wife lost her sister, dad, and mom in the span of 2/2014 to 11/2015 and though her mom and dad were in their late eighties it hasn’t been easy for her or for me – they were the best in-laws I could have had. During the school year (I teach 8th grade) I am hard pressed to read a few blogs posts and post once a week – if I am lucky. Wishing you a Happy New Year and many more to come.

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    1. My philosophy is that things happen as they are supposed to, whether they are happy or sad and we must accept that. I lost both my in laws within 3 months of each other too. That was a year before Justine died so we’ve worked through a lot as well. Happy New Year!

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      3. Cathy, We have been. I still haven’t posted about it but we finally found a connection AGAIN. Something that HOLDS both of our attention. We are rediscovering OUR LOVE OF MODEL TRAINS.
        Bobby and I started a Huge Collection back in 2004. Danny had a train set for years.
        Now we are starting over. He picked The Royal Gorge/ Santa Fe Line for His and I picked The Denver And Rio Grande/ Durango /Silverton Route for mine. Both are in Colorado. We are reading everything we can get our hands on….(Via the computer). Spending HOURS in OUR NEW TRAIN ROOM. (I gave up my Meditation room. ) It’s been wonderful.
        We are talking about everything (well more things than ever) while the trains go ROUND and ROUND.
        It’s been awesome.
        Enjoy the rest of your week. Love Sarah

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  4. Thanks for re-living Justine’s death and sharing all of the year 2014. Your strength and courage are a blessing to me. I think growth comes from going through some of our toughest stretches not stuffed down but allowed to accompany us on our journey.

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  6. I trust you know the value to others that writing and sharing your loss of Justine is for so many others who are thrust into this sudden worst of life experiences.
    You write with such sincerity, clarity, and well expressed emotions.
    Thank you. All my best to you in 2016. XOX- JoHanna

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    1. Thanks very much JoHanna. The community here surrounds me with encouragement. I think in a way I’ve used my blogs as a test to see how my book will be received, although my book tackles much more sensitive material as well. I may express a little more in the new year but I don’t want to give away all the secrets.

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  9. Hi, Cathy, I lost my husband to suicide in 2009 – a year where I lost my grandma, grandad, a dog and a cat. It was ROUGH! But writing about it and the aftermath, revealing, realizing and coming to terms with everything, little by little, it is helping so much. I see you are doing the same thing. I hope you find more and more joy and support as you walk through the journey. I look forward to reading more.

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