grief & joy are intertwined

The title pretty much says what I’ve been thinking (and feeling) a lot lately: that grief and joy are very much intertwined. I recently got a new kitten. She’s all black and so, of course, I named her after the black cat in Animal Crossing named Kiki. She’s brought so much joy already (and also

Loss and Chronic Pain

Earlier this week, on August 2, 2022, my cat Frodo was euthanized. Similar to our other cat Snowflake – who died on May 8, 2020 – he had blood work done which showed he was starting to have kidney failure. He had lived a good long life, and we didn’t want things to get worse

James and the Shame “Believe Me” – My Thoughts

Lyrics: “I think you want an answer I’m not prepared to give, ’cause the one I gave you said that that ain’t it. Must be something that I want – fame and fortune, or at least a little jaunt. It may seem too cut and dried, but I just found some things I could not

A Poem for Holy Week

if the pain the grief the ache the loss the longing  associated with death  like on Friday and Saturday  feel far more present and real than the hope the joy the beauty  the goodness of life and resurrection  like on Sunday  you are not alone you are loved may you one day find love  grace

When Love Feels Like A Waste

“Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” -Alfred Lord Tennyson “But what is grief, if not love persevering?” -from WandaVision (I haven’t watched it, I just really love this quote) Throughout my life, but especially over the last year or so, I’ve at times felt like my love

Progress

I had a neurologist appointment this week. I’ve come to expect, through almost ten years of being chronically ill, that doctor appointments can come with their own emotions. Relief and validation when after countless appointments and tests, an answer is found. Exhaustion and disappointment when “we can’t find anything wrong with you”. Sadness when a

Some Things I Wrote This Week

It’s not uncommon for me to draw from things I and others write on social media to include in my blog or to spur some more thoughts on. So, today, I’ll share some things I’ve shared on social media over the past week.   tw/cw/cn – pet death [about Snowflake, my 14-year-old cat who was

Seven Pounds of Love: Saying Goodbye to Snowflake

TW/CW/CN – death, grief   https://danieljonce.com/blog/imaginary-future I read this article last week, after the anniversary of Rachel Held Evans’ death. Little did I know that just a few days later, I would need these words more than ever. “What an odd thing to write about on this, the first anniversary of Rachel’s death. What an

The God I Put My Faith In

I’ve recently been seeing lots of discussions online about prayer, faith, forgiveness, and other topics from various people I follow online, both Christians and non Christians. This isn’t necessarily another “Twitter theology” post, though it could be at least partially considered one. I’ve been following Shannon Dingle for several months, and I already was appreciative