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Joy Comes In the Morning
WSN: Death, Disease, Divorce By Cynthia Mascarenhas Waits The single biggest challenge one is faced with after experiencing the death of a loved one, the crippling emotional and physical ramifications of a disease, or the devastation of divorce is the decision to “move on” or “move forward.” While many extraneous factors come into play, our…
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Sleep
WSN: Widow-Man with Dr. Nyle Kardatzke “I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.” -Robert Frost, from “On Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” Sleep is a great healer, but it can be elusive in a time of grief. Some men have trouble falling asleep. Others sleep easily but wake…
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Holding onto the Memories
WSN: Day by Day by Chris Brandt At first, I felt I wanted a small “shrine” of my late wife. It had only been a few days since she passed, and I wanted to have a visual element to view. I put a 5”x7” picture, her obituary, her last communion bottle, and her box of…
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The Joy We Need
WSN: Day by Day, with Chris Brandt We all are familiar with a house that is only a fallacy of what it once was. The house at one time was a place we went to after work or fishing that brought a smile to our faces. You know the smile for which I am talking.…
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Am I Cheating?
There is a feeling of fall in the air. Depending on where you live, you may have noticed the nights are feeling a little cooler, and the morning air is feeling a little brisker. Where I live, I have also seen the leaves on the trees are starting to lose their spring/summer green color. One…
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Escaping Anxiety
When my wife passed 4 years ago, I first experienced shock and then numbness, after that anger and depression, and after that resignation and doubts about my future without her. It wasn’t until around my sixth month of grieving that I began to experience something unfamiliar to me since my 20’s and 30’s, anxiety… and…
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What I Miss Most
The current Corvid 19 pandemic effected most people’s life in some way. As a widowed man and an empty nester, the current protocol that I have chosen to follow has given me a significant amount of time to reflect on my life. Recently I gave a lot of thought to what I miss most about…
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Simplify, Simplify, Simplify!
Last month, I spent 12 days with my daughter in Oregon. We rented an AirBnB. We enjoyed a lot of time in the mountains of the Willamette and Deschutes National Forests. She’s an avid hiker, and like me, loves the outdoors. The more time I spent in the woods, the more I felt myself really…
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It is okay to be happy
Have you ever felt guilty or maybe even startled at a smile on your face? If you have, there is no reason to feel any shame. Let me explain. As my wife and I battled her disease, there where many times that I felt guilty about being able to do things she could not. I…
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WSN: Talking About Your Health
Think On This. If it sounds familiar, seek help. My Opioid Addiction Posted by jdiakiw @jdiakiw My body is my major negative asset. I am riddled with pain. At a 5, 6 or 7 out of 10 on my pain scale, I still function normally, just living through it. At a 10, I suffer in…
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